All At Once
by xoYanaaa
Summary: They fell in love. First slowly, then all at once. Sophie/Keefe. AU. -COMPLETE-
1. Chapter 1: New Friend

**A/N: Before you read this story, keep in mind this is AU. Which means their characters might seem different than in the book, and that is because no matter how hard I tried I cannot get their characters right. So, I decided to write them like this. They might seem a bit OOC, but not really in the later chapters. Also they're a bit older. Keefe is 15, almost 16 and Sophie is 15 and a half. So Keefe's Level 6 and Sophie's Level 5.**

 **Second, every thing that happened in the book with Keefe did NOT happen in this story. Which means Sophie never met Keefe, so they never went on the adventures and stuff. Everything else DID happen, though.**

 **Third, this may seem a bit too human-y, like a reviewer of mine pointed out. I did this because it works better with the plot of this story. So there are no home crystals, they're not vegetarians, they're video games and TVs, and ect. So, yes, just keep that in mind.**

 **Lastly, things might seem to move at a slow pace but love does not happen over night, y'all. So don't expect a kiss until way later on. But I really hope you enjoy and if you do, hit that follow, fav, and review button :)**

 **With that said, I'll stop this long ass note and begin with the story already.**

* * *

SOPHIE POV

I knocked on the door in Everglen. Biana and I were going to watch a movie. I've been looking forward to this movie for a month! Biana opened the door.

"Hi, Sophie! What are you doing here?"

"Um, the movie? Remember?" I frowned.

She thought for a moment, and then she gasped. "Oh, no! Sophie I'm so sorry but Fitz and I have to go to Atlantis with our dad."

"Oh…" I was very disappointed. I really wanted to see the movie. I didn't want to go alone either, so I slowly started to walk away but Biana stopped me.

"Wait! I have an idea," she said with a slightly devilish grin. And then she ran inside her house and I wondered what in the world she had in mind.

BIANA POV

"Wait! I have an idea."

I felt bad about doing this, but I had no choice. I already promised my dad and Fitz I'd go with them. I couldn't back down now. There was only one thing to do.

I ran to the living room, where Keefe was playing video games with Fitz. Both teens were yelling and jumping up and down in their seats. I sighed and shook my head. Keefe was my brother's best friend and he came over a _lot_. He's just as annoying as Fitz is.

"Keefe?" I said.

"What?" he didn't look away from the game. "Ha HA!" he yelled suddenly, and I jumped.

"Um, can you stop playing for a minute? Fitz, you need to go get ready!"

"Ugh, fine." He got up. "This isn't over, man!" he said, walking past me and giving me a dirty look. I gave him one right back and turned back around as he went to his room to get dressed.

Keefe sighed loudly and turned to me. "What?"

"How would you like to go see a movie?"

At first he frowned. And then his eyes widened, and then he smirked. "On a date with you? Um, no. Besides, that's against the bro code."

I rolled my eyes, almost gagging. "I am _not_ your bro. And gross! Not with me. Sophie really wanted me to see a movie with her but I can't and she doesn't want to go alone because she hates being alone. But I can't go, so can you go with her?" I rambled.

"Uh, who's Sophie again? Is she the blond one?"

"Yes!" I snapped, getting annoyed.

"And why do you want me to go on a date with her?"

"Keefe! I would NEVER send my best friend on a date with an idiot like you! Girl code!"

He rolled his eyes. "That hurt," he said, faking offense.

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "Look, Sophie's really upset. She's been looking forward to it for months!"

His face softened a little. But he still didn't say anything. I sighed and walked away, but Keefe got up and grabbed my arm.

"Ugh! Fine, I'll go. But you owe me!"

"Really? Oh, thank you! You're a great friend!" I hugged him.

He lightly shoved my off after a few seconds.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But don't ever hug me again."

I shuddered. "I won't. I don't know what came over me."

I grabbed his arm and dragged him to the door.

"Wait, now?!" he said.

"Uh, yeah," I said in a duh voice. I threw his sweater and wallet at him.

He grudgingly caught it and I smiled sweetly at him before opening the door and pushing him out.

SOHPIE POV

I was beginning to think Biana forgot about me, but the door swung open 5 minutes later. I heard a "ow!" and a heard an "oh man" before Keefe Sencen stumbled out. I caught him before he fell. Biana was standing there with a satisfied look on her face.

"You remember Keefe, right?" Biana said.

"Uh…I guess?"

"Great! Sorry, bye!" she closed the door.

I frowned and looked at the closed door. Then I said, "Oh, hi, Keefe!" I said. "What are you doing here?"

"I would tell you if you let go of me!" he snapped.

I looked down at my hand gripping his shoulder. "Right. Sorry." I let go of him.

He shook himself off and had a sour look on his face. "Biana's making me go with you to the movies. So you don't go alone," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Really? Um…wow. That's sweet."

He glared at me. "Say that again, and I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Fine by me." I laughed.

He shrugged and stomped back to the door.

"Okay, okay!" I grabbed his hand before he opened the door. "I don't want to go alone," I mumbled, staring at my shoes.

He smirked. He must have realized I was still holding his hand because he snatched it away and shoved his hand in his pocket. Then, he started walking and I had to jog to keep up with him.

"So," I said, trying to make a conversation. "You were over at Biana's?"

"Well, duh." He glanced at me. Sighing, he kept talking. "I was playing video games."

"Biana doesn't like playing video games."

"I wasn't playing with Biana—" he rolled his eyes "—I was playing with her brother, Fitz."

"Oh. Right."

He started taking longer strides and I practically ran. "Hey, wait up!"

He looked at me, obviously amused. Then he took off running.

"Hey!" I yelled, running after him but slipped on a rock. "OW!"

He stopped running and turned around. He stared at me for a second, to see if I got up. When I didn't, he jogged over to me and grabbed my hand and lifted me up.

"You're so clumsy," he said, shaking his head.

"Yeah, well," I snapped. "If you would walk like a normal person—"

"And if you would run properly, we'd be there by now," he interrupted.

I rolled my eyes, ready to just forget about this whole thing. But then I remembered I already ordered the tickets so I just sighed and rubbed my temples. How does Biana put up with him?

I rubbed my arm because it still hurt a little. He glanced at my arm, and for a split second I saw guilt in his features. I stomped ahead and soon after he followed, no longer taking long strides.

So we were walking, side by side. I looked up at the sky, suddenly forgetting about my anger.

"Looks like it's going to rain." I glanced at him. He was looking up, too.

"Rain doesn't bother me," he said, still looking up.

I kept looking at him. He had a small birthmark on his left cheek. It was so tiny and cute—

He looked down and caught me looking at him. I looked away quickly and hid my blush behind my hair. I mentally slapped myself as we kept walking.

"So how long did you know Fitz?" I asked.

He shrugged. "We met in 6th grade. It's hard to believe, but Fitz and I were the 'weird kids' no one really talked to."

It was hard to believe. Fitz and Keefe were the most popular kids in school.

"One day I sat with him at lunch," he continued. "And after that I found out he was pretty cool so we ate together every day and soon we became best friends."

"How'd you get popular?"

"The Great Gulon Incident. They found out it was me, and soon everyone knew I was the master trouble maker and Fitz was my partner in crime." He grinned, like he was remembering the day. "They thought we were cool and ever since then, we were popular."

I smiled. "Wait, what exactly did happen that day?"

He just gave me a wicked grin. "We're here."

I stopped walking and we stood in front of the theater. I didn't even notice.

He opened the door and let me go in first. He was a gentleman after all.

"Thanks," I said, walking in and looking around. Then I went to the ticket stand.

I pulled out my wallet as he pulled out his. He looked down at me. "It's cool, I'll pay for mine."

I looked away from his gaze. "Nah, I dragged you here. It's the least I can do." From the corner of my eye I saw him stare at me then shrug and put his wallet away. We walked over the counter.

"Seats for two?" the lady said, smiling.

"Yes," I said, giving her the money. I didn't like her smile.

She looked at Keefe. "He's cute."

My face got hot. "Um—"

"Okay, love birds. Here ya go." She gave us the tickets, still smiling.

"Love—no, no, no," Keefe said. "She—we—I—"

"We're not on a date!" I finished. I glanced at Keefe, who was growing pink.

"Oh!" the lady's smile was still on her face. "My bad. But you guys would make a cute couple."

Keefe snorted. "Yeah, if everyone else on earth died."

I nodded. "Exactly. Me and _him?_ Sorry, but I have wayyy higher standards."

He glared at me. I grinned up at him.

"Oh, come on," she said to Keefe. "She's cute, right?"

His eyes grew wide and he cast a sideways glance at me. "Um…" he was red.

I was looking at my shoes. I heard an "I guess" and my head shot up. Keefe called me cute? Keefe? I glanced at him and he was red.

"Can you just give us the tickets?" he snapped.

"Okay…well, have fun!" she gave a little wink and walked away.

Keefe shook his head in disgust. I was still blushing a little. But I pulled my face into a sneer. We began walking to the screen but he stopped me.

"Wait," he said, stopping. "What about food?"

"Sorry, I didn't bring that much money." For some reason I got embarrassed. I played with the ticket in my hand as I felt him looking at me for a while.

He pulled out his wallet. "I'll buy it. What do you want?"

I looked up at him. "You sure?"

He shrugged. "You didn't exactly drag me out here. I wanted to see this movie, too." He said shyly.

"Oh, um, okay. I'll have an extra-large popcorn with extra butter and the biggest size of sprite, oh and some of those chocolate ball things with—"

He laughed out loud. It was actually kind of flattering. "Dude, I'm serious."

I laughed a little myself. "I'll have a popcorn and sprite. Thanks."

He nodded and walked over to the counter. I watched him as he told the guy what he wanted. Who knew deep down Keefe was so sweet?

When he was done he walked over to me and gave me my food.

"Thanks, Keefe," I said.

"Whatever." He wasn't looking at me. "Shall we?" he gestured with his arm. I guess he believed in ladies first.

We walked in the theater. Our arms were brushing together a little. Not that I noticed or cared.

"Let's sit there," he said, pointing to an empty row. I shrugged and sat down, and he sat down next to me. He shoved some popcorn in his mouth and sipped soda. I did the same. I cheekily grinned, with popcorn in my teeth. He grimaced but chuckled anyway.

Once the movie started we fell silent. I stole a glance at Keefe, who was looking down into the popcorn. I quickly looked away. About 3 minutes into the movie, I stole another glance at him. He looked up and saw me looking at him. So I quickly looked down at the popcorn and got a big handful, feeling my face heat up.

A part came and the sudden, loud music surprised me, and I jumped so high I spilled my popcorn all over me. I blushed, expecting Keefe to laugh at me. But instead he helped me clean up the popcorn.

"Here, you can have some of mine," he said.

"Thank you," I said, surprised.

When the movie was over, I got up.

"That was pretty good," he said, standing up and stretching.

"Yeah, I liked it." I glanced up at him and saw him looking at me.

"What?" I said.

"Nothing, just…your hair."

"What about it?" I suddenly grew embarrassed. Was it messy?

"No, no." Then he reached over and brushed my hair, leaving his fingers there a second too long. My face instantly heated up.

"Popcorn," he explained, holding up the piece then throwing it on the ground.

"Oh, thanks," I said nervously. I self-consciously lifted my hand to my hair.

When we walked out, I awkwardly said, "Well, that was fun."

"Better than nothing," he shrugged, looking at the sky.

I rolled my eyes. When I looked up, I saw the clouds. They were a lot bigger.

"I'm starving," I blurted out, patting my empty stomach.

"Me, too." He nodded his head to the right. "There's a little fast food place over there."

"What are you waiting for? Let's go!"

He smiled and walked ahead because I didn't know where it was. When we got there, I looked up. "Burger Heaven." The sign said. He opened the door and let me in first again. We ordered our food and then sat down. He drummed his fingers on the table, looking bored.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, a girl walked in. I didn't recognize her, but she was really pretty. I saw Keefe drooling in his seat and I shook my head in amusement.

"Go talk to her," I said, snapping him out of his trance. This will be fun to watch.

He shot me a look. "Okay. I know I'm extremely good looking, but she is a whole other level. Look at her! She probably already has a boyfriend."

"You don't know that." Oh, this is going to be interesting.

That seemed to give him a little confidence because he stood up and sauntered over to the girl, grinning boyishly. She was on her phone.

"Hey," Keefe said flirtatiously. "You like burgers, huh?"

I face palmed and shook my head, biting my tongue to stop from laughing.

"Would I be here if I didn't?" she said, looking him up and down with a raised eyebrow.

Keefe shifted his feet. "So, uh…you a sophomore?"

"Yeah."

"Really? Me, too."

"In college?"

"Oh…no."

She looked at him in disgust. "Look, kid, don't even try. I'm way too old for you." She turned back to her phone.

Keefe walked back to the table with a surprised look on his face.

I was barely controlling my laughter. "You like burgers, huh?" I said, bursting out laughing.

He rolled his eyes. "Laugh all you want. She was so into me."

"Keep telling yourself that."

He glared at me as I continued to laugh.

I felt a little bad, because I knew she was going to shoot him down. But all the guilt melted away when I saw the food.

Our food came and we ate mostly in silence. When we were done, I realized I only had a couple of dollars on me. Crap. The meal was 10 dollars.

I was mentally freaking out when Keefe slapped down a 20 and stood up, patting his stomach.

I stared at the money and got up. "You don't have to pay." I put down the rest of my money for a tip.

"I know, but you said you didn't have enough for snacks."

"You remembered that?"

He snorted. "You're still going to pay me back." He shook his head like I was stupid for believing he was going to pay for me.

I smiled and rolled my eyes, and we walked out the door—and immediately blasted with cold air.

"Did the temperature drop 50 degrees or something?" I said, shivering slightly.

Keefe was looking up, and I followed his gaze. Big, cumulus clouds were covering the sky.

"Yep, definitely rain. I better hurry on home." I rubbed my arms, trying to warm myself. I was wondering how fast I'd have to run to make it home without being blasted by a rain storm when I noticed Keefe wasn't leaving. I looked at him. "Bye, Keefe."

He was looking ahead, looking a bit nervous. And then he cleared his throat, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Um, so…where do you live?" He said shyly, looking down.

"Havenfield." I looked at him curiously.

He nodded and began walking in the direction towards my house. I jogged up to him. "You're walking me home?" I said in surprise.

He sighed. "I'd rather not deal with Biana yelling at me if something happens to you. You know, if you fall again." He grinned a slightly crooked grin. It was kind of cute… "And I'd rather not deal with my dad right now." His voice sounded bitter at the last part, no longer grinning.

"Oh. Well, thanks."

"Just hurry, it's going to rain."

We walked in silence for a little while. He looked lost in thought.

A burst of cold air hit me and I shivered.

"It's cold," I muttered, rubbing my arms up and down. Short sleeves were a bad idea. Maybe I should have worn my cape after all. I didn't think he heard me. He gave me a sideways glance. After being quiet for about a minute, he shrugged his shoulders and his sweater came off. He held it out to me.

I looked up at him. "No, it's fine. I'm not that cold—"

"I'd be more convinced if you weren't shivering. It's no big deal, cold doesn't bother me." He smirked a little.

"You sure?"

"Just take it before I change my mind."

I took it and slipped my arms through the sleeves. It was huge on me, but cozy. And it smelled like him, which smelled really good.

"Thanks. I didn't know you were such a gentleman." I looked at him and he was blushing.

He snorted. "There's a first time for everything." He laughed to himself, and I couldn't help but laugh along.

He glanced at me and quickly looked away. Maybe it was just me in his sweater that made him uncomfortable. I slowly grinned, poking him. He swatted my hand away. But he had the faintest smile tugging at his lips, like he wanted to laugh.

"Are you ticklish?" I said, amused.

"No!" He exclaimed, but he covered himself.

I laughed, trying to poke him again. A laugh escaped from his lips and he ran ahead, glancing over his shoulder now and then. I finally caught up to him and he kept glancing at me like I was going to tickle him again. I didn't, though.

We walked in a comfortable silence after that.

After a minute, I felt something wet hit my head. And then another hit my arm. I looked at Keefe who looked at me with wide eyes. And then, the rain came. All at once it was raining cats and dogs. I instantly got soaked and it felt like I just jumped in a pool.

"Run!" I shouted over the rain.

So we both ran, side by side, in the rain. I pulled his sweater closer to me and zipped it up and put on the hood. I tried to match his long strides. I was fast, but he was faster.

"C'mon, Foster!" he reached his hand out. It took me a second to realize he wanted me to take it. So I did, and he intertwined our fingers and pulled me closer to him as we ran. He have dragged, half pulled me along. I didn't mind, I just didn't know he was that strong or fast.

So we ran, hand in hand, side by side. I looked up at him as we ran. His hair was soaking wet, and it was pretty…handsome. His jeans were drenched, and his arms had water dripping down every part. I also noticed there was a big smile on his face and, I realized, on mine. I laughed gleefully, loving the thrill. Keefe laughed too, a grin spread on his face.

We ran in the pouring rain, laughing and enjoying the thrill. And then I saw my house come up too soon.

I tugged his hand. "My house is there!" But it felt too soon. I didn't want to go home yet.

"I love the rain," I yelled over the noise.

"Yeah? Me, too."

"So what are we doing?" I stopped running and so did he.

"What?"

"I mean," I said, breathing heavily. "Why are we trying to get out of it?"

He slowly grinned. "I like the way you think."

I smiled back, then let go of his hand and ran around, enjoying the rain. He did the same. We ran, jumped, flipped, rolled, and laughed until we grew tired.

"Okay," he panted. "I'm tired and cold."

I laughed and walked to my drive way. He took my hand again and it caught me off guard, but I didn't pull away. We walked up the drive way and stopped at the porch and stood there, catching our breaths. He was still gripping my hand. I kept my eyes off his wet body because he was wearing a white t-shirt.

When we finally breathed normally, we stood there. I noticed he was shivering, squeezing my hand Then it dawned on me that he held my hand for warmth.

"Oh!" I let go of his hand and it flopped back to his side. I unzipped the sweater and took it off. "Thank you for that."

"It's cool," he said, putting it on. He stopped shivering, and I started again, feeling a cold wind hit my body.

After standing there for a moment, he cleared his throat.

"Later, Sophie. I didn't have _that_ bad of a time, considering." He grinned at me. That same cute lop sided grin. I couldn't help it—I grinned back.

He began to walk away, into the pouring rain.

I bit my lip. For some reason, I wanted him to stay. I ran up to him, grabbing his arm.

"Wait!"

He stopped and looked at me, confused. "What?" we had to yell over the rain. Great, I'm getting cold and soaked again.

"Uh, it's raining pretty hard." I awkwardly shoved a wet piece of hair behind my ear, shivering again.

"Yeah, I see that…" he still looked confused, glancing at my hand on his arm.

"Do-do you want to…you know, come in my house? While you wait for the rain to stop? I play video games." My jaw was shaking.

Slowly his expression changed. I couldn't quite read it. "You mean spend the rest of the day with you?" He almost laughed.

Embarrassed, I faked a grin. "Yeah. Stupid, right? Bye, Keefe." I stomped away, wanting to punch myself. I didn't care about the rain anymore. I was at the door when he suddenly grabbed my hand, stopping me.

"Dude, I was joking. You're pretty cool," he said, looking down at me shyly. It was kind of cute how he looked embarrassed admitting he thought I was cool. I felt his eyes still on me. So I glanced up at him and caught him looking at me. He quickly looked away.

"I get that a lot." I glanced at our hands together. It felt so great in his hand. He suddenly let go and scratched his hair, looking a little pink. "Well, what are you waiting for? I'm cold and wet here."

I smiled and unlocked the door and walked in my house. We were greeted my adopted mother, Edaline.

"Hi, sweetie," she said. "Oh my goodness, you're all wet. Go get towels."

"Oh, this is Keefe Sencen," I said. "Keefe, this is my mom."

He stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you."

My mom shook it. "So, you're a Sencen? As in the son of—"

"Lord Cassius, yes," he finished. "But don't worry, I'm nothing like him. And I'm way better looking."

He smirked, messing up his already perfectly messy hair, which somehow made him look really good. And it was still wet. I looked away before he noticed.

"Why, yes you are. So where were you guys?"

"At the movies," I said.

"I didn't know you were going on a date. Good job, by the way. He's very handsome."

"Mom," I groaned. "It wasn't a date."

"So I was promised video games?" he turned to me, changing the subject.

"Right. It's in my room. But first we need towels."

I walked to the bathroom and he followed. I handed him a towel and started drying my hair and legs. Then I put my hair in a pathetic bun, and I knew I looked like crap but honestly I didn't care.

"So, how about those video games?" he asked.

"Right." I brushed passed him.

I started up the stairs and he followed. When we reached my room, I saw his expression change. Shock, maybe?

"Wow." Yup, definitely shock.

"What?" I glanced at my stuffed elephant, Ella, sitting on my bed.

"Nothing…I just thought you had a girly room and stuff; because you hang with Biana." He was looking right at me.

"Nah," I said, looking away. I pulled out my Xbox games. "Here are my games. Pick any one you want."

His eyebrows lifted. "All the games I love." He glanced up at me. "You're not so bad after all." He smiled a little before looking back down.

"What, you thought I was bad?" I frowned.

He just gave me that cute lop sided grin. I looked away before I grinned stupidly back. He handed me a game and I put it in the Xbox and he took a seat on my bed. I sat next to him. He looked at Ella and slowly grinned at me. That stupid (but really cute) lopsided grin.

"Aww, you have a stuffed elephant?" he threw it up in the air.

"Give me that!" I snatched it away from him, placing her carefully next to my pillows, swatting him on the head.

"Ow!"

I grinned at him. He glared at me. Then he pushed me off my bed. I heard him laughing as I lay on the floor. After he stopped laughing he grabbed my hand and pulled me up.

His eyes swept across the room again before landing on mine. "I like your room. It's…cozy."

I smiled a little. "Thanks. It took me a while to decorate but…I guess I did a decent job."

His eyes landed on something. My guitar.

"You play guitar?" he said, turning to look straight at me.

"Yeah, a little."

"Me, too." I looked back at him, and he smiled so big at me I couldn't help the goofy smile that spread across my face.

"Play for me."

I stopped smiling. "What?"

"Come on, you're not shy are you?"

"No, I…" I looked at the floor.

"Come on, I let you use my sweater. Which now smells like you, by the way."

For some reason, I blushed madly. "Oh, um, I can wash it."

"Nah, I didn't say it smelled bad. Now play."

I sighed and picked up my guitar. I sat down awkwardly, thinking of which song I should play. I glanced up at him. He smiled and nodded, urging me on.

I took a breath and looked away from him. I started playing Solo by The Story So Far. Before I realized it, I started singing. Immediately I blushed but I kept playing. Then something happened: he started singing along. I looked up at him and he looked at me and he kept singing and I kept strumming and singing. Then I stopped because the song was over. We sat there for a few seconds until I spoke up.

"I didn't know you knew that band."

"I could say the same about you."

"So, can you play good?"

He responded by taking the guitar. He started playing. I instantly recognized the song. It was Death Valley by Fall Out Boy. Then he started singing. I loved his voice. Hell, he sang as well as Patrick. I watched him for about 10 seconds, the way his mouth moved and how his fingers so easily glided across the fret board. Then I started singing a long. He shot me the biggest grin I've ever seen.

When the song was over, he smiled at me. "That was fun. I never get to do that because—"

"No one likes the same music," I finished, nodding. He looked at me.

"Yeah…exactly." He put the guitar back. Then he turned back to me.

"What?" I asked.

He shook his head, looking away. "Wanna play some video games?"

"Sure. You wanna get beat?"

"Oh, it's so on!"

We played until my mom called us for dinner.

"Oh, I didn't know it was that late," he mumbled, getting up.

"That's because you're having such a good time with me." I grinned cheekily and poked him.

He rolled his eyes but didn't deny it. "Where's the bathroom?"

"Down the hall, to the left, then take a right, then down that hall."

He stared blankly at me.

"Follow me."

He followed me and I showed him to the bathroom. Then I went downstairs to go eat some dinner.

"So," my mom said, smiling a little. "Keefe, huh? He's cute."

I felt the blush creeping up my cheeks. "What? He's just a friend. He's only here to wait until the rain stops."

She just kept smiling. "It stopped."

"Oh…"

"Is he staying for dinner?"

"I don't know."

"Uh, Foster? I think I'm lost!" I heard him yell.

I laughed. "Coming!"

I went to the bathroom. Keefe was standing in the middle of the hallway, unsure where to go. "Your house is huge," he explained.

I just laughed. "Are you staying for dinner?"

He loudly sighed. "Only because my mom probably didn't save me any food."

I frowned. "Why wouldn't she?"

He didn't answer. "Are we going or what? Or do you want me to lead, so you can admire the view?" He grinned lop sidedly.

I rolled my eyes and led him to the dining room.

"Hello, Keefe," my mom said. "You can sit over there, next to Sophie."

"Where's Grady?" I asked.

"He had to do something with the council," she said quickly.

I sat down and Keefe sat next to me. We awkwardly began to eat.

"So, how'd you two meet?" my mom asked.

I glanced at Keefe. He looked away, like he was already looking at me. "Um, I think a few months ago when I went to Biana's house. Keefe was there."

"Yeah," Keefe jumped in. "I always thought she was another annoying friend of Biana's."

I rolled my eyes and he grinned at me. I told myself not to look but did. And he just looked so cute grinning like that I couldn't help but smile back.

My mom noticed. "So, are you two dating?"

I was in the middle of chewing but when I heard that I coughed and accidentally swallowed without chewing all the way and a piece of food was stuck in my throat and I started coughing and chocking and something slapped my back and the piece of food flew out my mouth and landed on my mom. Embarrassed, I muttered a sorry.

"It's okay, I'm glad you're fine," my mom said, getting up to go clean herself.

I rubbed my back. "That hurt, Keefe."

"Hey, it worked didn't it?" He was laughing.

I glared at him. He grinned because I was hurt.

"So," I cleared my throat. "What now?"

"Now, I'm going home. I think the rain stopped." He stood up. "I would bring my plate to the sink but I don't know where the kitchen is."

"Of course."

I kind of wanted him to stay, I was having fun. But I went to the door and opened it for him.

He stood there for a moment, with his hands shoved in his pockets. He looked like he wanted to say something.

"I had a good time?" I said, unsure what to say.

"Yeah. Keep playing." He grinned at me. That cute—well, you know. There was a look of reluctance in his eyes, like he didn't want to leave. So he stood there.

"Um, maybe one day we can…I don't know, play together?" I said.

"It's a date." He smirked.

"You and the guitar can have fun."

He laughed and walked out the door.

"Bye," I called out.

"Yeah. Bye," he said, glancing over his shoulder. Our eyes met again.

I closed the door. But I went to the window and peeked out. He was walking kind of slow, like he didn't want to be home. Then he suddenly turned around. He was walking back! He stopped in front of her door. He hesitated, and then knocked.

I waited a few seconds so he wouldn't think I was watching him. Then I opened the door, pretending to be shocked.

"Keefe? Can't get enough of me can you?" I smirked.

"Hilarious," he said in a deadpanned voice. "You didn't give me my money."

"Damn, I thought you forgot," I laughed.  
He shook his head in amusement. "You didn't think I'd actually pay for your food did you?" He laughed, like he was laughing at my stupidity.  
"You did pay for the snacks," I pointed out.  
He slowly grinned. "Which reminds me." he pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. "You owe me 5 dollars and 49 cents."  
I sighed and shook my head. "Fine, just hold on."  
I went upstairs and got my money. When I came back down, he was leaning against the door frame. He was facing outside, so his back was turned to me. I couldn't help but notice he had broad shoulders and great hair. I shook my head and continued down the steps.

He turned around. "It's about time."

"Oh, you're lucky I even went up to go get it," I snapped, giving it to him.  
"Oh?" he said with a raised brow. He counted the money.  
"Yes."  
"And I thought you were going to thank me for walking you home. The nerve." he said, shaking his head in disappointment and continued to count the money.

"Hey!" he said.

"What?"

"Where's my 49 cents?"

"Oh, come on!"

"Think I'd forget, didn't you? Well I'll be stopping by another day for my money."

"Of course," I sighed. "Oh, and thanks for walking me home."  
"Oh, please. You can't genuinely thank somebody after they reminded you to. You probably were happy this handsome man walked you home." he smirked.  
I rolled my eyes. "Um, define handsome."  
"Uh huh. You can't lie to an Empath."

My jaw fell. "You're an Empath?"

"Yup. And dude, I can only feel emotions when I touch people. But I can feel yours from a distance."

"Really?" I was shocked. "What am I feeling right now?"

"Shocked and embarrassed." He grinned lop sidedly. It was so cute—wait! He knows how I feel. Stop it!

My face heated up. "Embarrassed? Why would I be embarrassed?"

He laughed. "You tell me. But I think you know why."

I folded my arms. "Yeah? Why?"

He shook his head in amusement. "Bye, Foster." He started to walk away, but he paused and turned around. "Oh, and don't watch me from the window again. Totally creepy, man." He walked away, laughing to himself.

My face was on fire when I closed the door. But I couldn't help a tiny smile creep upon my lips. Then I remembered he can feel everything I feel, so I stopped and shook my head.

"I don't like him," I muttered to myself. "I barely know him and he's so annoying."

KEEFE POV

I started to walk back home. I felt Sophie's emotions still, and she felt embarrassed and…giddy.

"Man, why am I so charming and hot?" I muttered. Speaking of hot…Sophie wasn't bad looking. Okay, who am I kidding? She was gorgeous. Don't get me started on how she looked in my sweater. It was so big on her, and she just looked…wow. And when she put her hair in that messy bun. Oh, man. And the way she sings…

I still couldn't help the tiny smile that spread. I had a great time; the best in weeks. But I would never tell her that. I smelled my sweater. It still smelled like her. I secretly hoped the smell never went away.

"I don't like her," I muttered to myself. "I barely know her and she's so annoying."

* * *

 **Please read those of you who just read this chapter and are probably cringing from how bad it is. Trust me-I KNOW.**

 **Are you reading this?**

 **You better be!**

 **Wait...obviously you're reading this...**

 **Okay, this first chapter is terribly written. I wrote it last year and it's just...ugh. Terrible. And I noticed this first chapter has almost 2 thousand views and the rest just have hundreds. Some of you probably gave this story a chance, saw how terrible this chapter is, and gave up on it.**

 **Yeah, you did that? I don't blame you.**

 **Well, guys, I'd appreciate it if you just read to at least the 4th chapter bc my writing (I think) gets much better and the plot is diff but still the same if you're catching my drift. It gets better-trust me.**

 **Thank you,**

 **-Yana**


	2. Chapter 2: Partners

SOPHIE POV

He was the worst partner I ever had in my life.

No, I was not exaggerating. He was irritating, annoying, lazy, _infuriating,_ and anything else you could think of. I had pretty bad partners before—like Stina—but he was a whole new level of bad.

It happened on a Monday afternoon at Foxfire. I was in science class, working on a lab with my partner, Marella. Everything was going fine until the door slammed open. A boy with messy hair sauntered in with an all too familiar smirk on his face.

"Mr. Sencen," the teacher, Lady Cadence, said with the slightest hint of annoyance. "Glad you could join us."

He snorted. "That makes one of us."

She secretly rolled her eyes and stood up, searching the room. Everyone needed a partner, so she was seeing who to pair him up with. Usually, him and Fitz were paired together and sat at the back of the class, so I never really payed attention to either of them. But today, Fitz wasn't here so Keefe had no partner.

"Does anyone want to pair up with Keefe, class?" Lady Cadence said.

Marella jumped up and sat down next to Jensi across the room. "All yours, Sophie."

I frowned, wondering why she did that. But I didn't wonder too much because I was secretly happy him and I were partners. He was cool and fun to hang with, so I thought he would make this class much better. Keefe plopping down next to me pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Foster," he said with a nod of his head, not looking at me.

"Sencen," I said back.

He didn't say anything more; only stretch out his legs, put his arms behind his head and leaned back as far as he could go like he was on vacation. I smiled to myself and looked down at my notebook.

It's been 3 days since we hung out—not that I was counting. I wasn't quite sure what to say to him. After a few minutes of glancing at him a numerous times, (every time I looked, he was doodling stuff in his notebook) I finally got the courage to speak and cleared my throat.

"So…where were you?" I whispered.

For the first time that day he turned and looked at me and slowly smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know?" Then he turned back to his notebook to continue his drawings of God knows what.

I blinked, ego slightly bruised. After a few seconds, I turned away and pretended to be reading the book, hiding my blush. I expected more than 5 words to come from him, maybe even a joke.

After another minute, Lady Cadence began to speak. "I have a project for you guys." Right on queue, the whole class groaned—Keefe being the loudest. "You and your partner must work together so make a serum you both agree on by combining other elements. I want to see a paper that is at least 3 pages explaining what you did, and I want to see the serum, and what elements you used. This is worth a third of your grades, so put a lot of effort into this."

I took a breath. I had a C average for once and was working for a B. If I did badly on this, I could forget about that. I hoped Keefe was a good partner.

"Okay, Keefe," I said when it was time to begin the project. "We first need to chose what serum we want to make."

"I have an idea," he said, without looking up.

"What?"

"Nothing." He smirked and went back to his doodles.

I sighed. "I'm serious."

"So am I," he said, not looking up from his notebook. "Me and Fitz never did this stuff when he was my partner."

"Yeah, and what's your grade?"

He carelessly shrugged. "I don't know. But the point is, we can just pretend we're working and work on new ways I can get Dame Alina today. I was thinking maybe—"

"No! We are doing the assignment, Keefe. I'm trying to get a better grade."

He just looked at me with an amused eyebrow. "You're cute when you're mad."

I was too angry to realize he just called me cute. Rolling my eyes, I began to write down ideas for the serum. And did Keefe help? Nope. He sat there, doodling or making "evil scheme" ideas. Seriously, who did that?

I thought that it'd be fun to have him for a partner, seeing we—or at least I—had a lot of fun when we spent the day together. I thought he was cool; he was fun—but no. He was the most annoying person I met. Yes, even more annoying than Stina. Now I'm doing all the work while he just does whatever.

I was writing so hard I broke my pencil. And you know what he did?

He laughed.

 _Laughed!_

Unbelievable. How could Marella do this to me? Pair me up with this incompetent fool! I had to take slow, deep breaths to keep from ripping his hair out.

After 20 more minutes of working, the teacher announced we had 3 days to complete the project. After that, we left the class. Before I could tell Keefe where to meet to work on the project, he was already out the door.

* * *

I was fuming. I really wanted to do well on the project to get my grade up. The only way for that is for me to do all the work, and I'm not even good at it. And I'm not going down without a fight. I searched for Fitz and asked him where Keefe would be at this time. He told me he would be playing base quest so I went to the field and sat on the bleachers, waiting for him to finish practice. I watched Keefe play and he was…really good. I enjoyed watching him and almost forgot why I was even there in the first place.

When they finished their game I saw Keefe getting some water and took my chance. So I ran off the bleachers and stomped toward him, pulling a scowl on my face.

"Keefe!" I said, glaring daggers at him.

He turned around and when he saw me, his eyebrows lifted in surprise. I couldn't help but glance at his arms a few times.

"Sophie? What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you, that's what."

"You watched me play?"

"Yeah." I shrugged.

He didn't say anything after that, only put down his water and gave me his undivided attention.

I cleared my throat. "This is about the project. Keefe, you have to help me. I know you don't care about your grade but I care about mine."

He looked at me for a few seconds. Then he said, "Fine."

With that, he walked away.

"Keefe! Where are we going to meet?" I yelled after him.

He turned around and walked backwards. I expected him to tell me, but he just smirked and turned back around and walked off the field.

I stood there in disbelief.

* * *

The next day, I was prepared. I was going to wait for Keefe come out of his Empathy class and force him to come work on the project with me. I can't believe I was saying this, but I was dreading working with Keefe.

After my telepathy class, I headed over to his class to wait for him. When I got there, I peeked through the small window on the door. Sure enough, Keefe was in there dozing off every few seconds. I shook my head and sat on the floor and waited.

A couple of minutes later, the door opened and the prodigies streamed out. Keefe was the first one to get out of there. He walked so fast he almost tripped over me. Then he stopped, looked down, and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

" _Foster?"_ he said. "What are you doing here?"

I got up. "Waiting for you. We have to work on the project, it's due in 2 days!"

"Okay, okay, fine," he sighed.

We walked side by side through the halls to the lab. He didn't say anything, and neither did I. I was thinking of something—anything to say, but nothing came to mind. Our walk to the theater was talkative and fun, and now I can't think of anything to say.

When we got to the lab, we sat down and began.

"Okay. What serum do you want to make?" I asked him.

He just shrugged. "I don't know."

I sighed. "Okay…well, what elements do you want to use?"

"I don't know."

I took a deep breath. "Okay. I guess I'll be picking the serum." I wrote down the serum to make. "Do you want to start working on the paper?"

"I don't know."

"If you say I don't know one more time—"

He fanned the air between us. "Whew. I'm getting some bad vibes, Foster."

"No kidding!" I growled.

He looked at me with a smirk. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Yes, I want to talk about the project!"

"Then what are you waiting for?"

I couldn't take it. I got up and started slamming random elements down to combine. I promptly ignored him for a while until he started laughing.

"Sheesh, Foster. Lighten up. I'm just kidding. You look like an angry chipmunk."

I ignored him and continued to write. He sighed and got up and picked up two random elements.

"Let's combine these and see what serum we end up with and just use that."

"No, those could be—"

Too late. He poured the mixtures together and boom! We were covered in a green, gooey, sticky mess.

"Keefe!" I yelled. "Look what you did!"

He stared at me, and then started laughing.

"What's so funny?" I said angrily.

"You look like a ogre!" He said between laughs.

I looked down at myself. I was covered in green goo and I looked at him and so was he. It got stuck in his hair and face. We _did_ look like ogres.

"This isn't funny," I said but I kept grinning.

"You know it is." He threw some of the goo stuff on me.

"Hey!" I said, throwing some back at him.

And soon, we were throwing the goo back and forth and laughing like idiots. That is, until Lady Cadence came and yelled at us. After her threatening to send us to detention she told us to clean everything up. And then, she swooshed away.

Keefe and I were breathing heavily, grinning.

"Look at what you did," I said.

"Hey—you loved it!" he said defensively.

I hated to admit it, but he was right.

* * *

The next day, I was in my inflicting class with Bronte. He always put me in a bad mood, so when I was leaving the class I was not happy. That is, until I noticed Keefe sitting on the floor with a book in his lap. For some reason, all my anger washed away when I saw him.

I walked up to him a bit hesitantly, not knowing why he was waiting for me. "Hey, Keefe."

He looked up. "Sup, Foster." He closed his book and stood up. "Ready?"

"For what?"

"To make a story explaining why we didn't do the project," he said, shaking his head at my denseness.

It was then when I remembered we didn't do a lick of work.

"Oh, no," I said. "We didn't do _anything!_ Lady Cadence is going to tell Grady and—"

"Relax, Foster." He nudged me. "This is why having a genius comes in handy."

He began to walk, motioning me to follow. "Okay. We'll say we did everything we were supposed to, but one of the goblins mistake the serum for a snack and ate it." He grinned triumphantly at his "brilliant" plan, but I knew it wasn't going to work. I didn't say anything, only thought of Grady and Edaline finding out I got a bad grade. Would if I don't pass, like I almost did last year? Stina would have a field day.

Keefe grabbed my arm. "Hey, earth to Foster. This is the part where you thank me for coming up with such a awesome plan at short notice."

"It's not going to work," I said, sighing.

He looked at me with the slightest look of guilt. "Yes it will, you just gotta relax. Once you worry about everything you'll psych yourself out. Go with the flow."

"I'm not you, Keefe," I grumbled, walking into class and taking my seat.

* * *

An F.

We got an F. I've gotten Ds, and everything else above that (expect for As) but _never_ an F. I stared at the big fat red letter on a blank piece of paper in shock. Keefe didn't seem to care, though. But I did. When class was over, I slipped out class and walked to my locker, stuffing the paper in it.

Someone tapped my shoulder and when I turned around, it was Keefe.

"I didn't know you cared about your grade so much."

I shrugged, shutting my locker. "It's nothing." As I began walking, he walked beside me.

"I have something that'll cheer you up," he said. "I'm playing base quest today…"

I looked at him. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." He scratched his head. "Do you…wanna come? You know, watch?"

I smiled slowly. I don't know how he does it, but I can never stay mad at him no matter how hard I try. "Okay."

He let out a small breath and had a small smile tugging at his lips. "Cool."

He walked with me to my class and gave a cheesy salute when I was opening the door. I waved and walked in, heart beating faster than normal.

* * *

I was making my way to the field outside of Foxfire to go to Keefe's game. I was grinning like an idiot as I walked.

"Stop it," I told myself. "You're just going to a game."

I got there just in time because the game was starting. I walked up the bleachers and saw Fitz and Biana there, too.

"Hey!" I said, waving and sitting down next to them.

"Sophie?" Biana said. "You came to watch Keefe?"

"Yeah," I shrugged. "He asked me to come."

Biana grinned and poked Fitz with her elbow. He grinned, too, and wiggled his eyebrows.

"What?" I asked, frowning.

"Nothing," Biana said innocently.

Keefe's team was huddled up when Fitz shouted, "Go Keefe!"

Keefe looked up and grinned at Fitz, and then he saw me and smiled. My heart beat faster as I smiled back and waved.

When the game was over (Keefe's team winning), everyone gathered on the field to congratulate them. I followed Biana and Fitz, who were going to Keefe.

"Nice game, man," Fitz said, high-fiving him.

"Yeah, I know." Keefe flashed a smirk.

"Yeah, good job," Biana said, also giving him a high-five.

He grinned and then looked at me. "You made it."

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Um, good game."

"Thanks."

We stood there awkwardly while Fitz and Biana snickered at God knows what.

"Hey, race you back," Keefe said.

"Game on," I said, grinning evilly. I tripped him and then ran, laughing as he yelled about me being a cheater. It ended up being a tie.

"You dirty cheater," he said, panting. "Looks like some of me rubbed off on you."

"Unfortunately."

"Hey, that's a major compliment!"

I threw some grass at his precious hair and he laughed. "Oh, it is so on!"

I ran and he chased me, both of us laughing gleefully.

Even though our project was finished, Keefe still waited for me to finish class and I still went to his games and waited for him if I got out before him. We never planned it, it just became a habit. Not that I was complaining.

Okay, okay. I was exaggerating before. He wasn't the _worst_ partner ever. In fact he was one of the best I had.

Of course, I would _never_ tell him that. But let's just say we, coincidentally, always ended up partners after that.


	3. Chapter 3: Mission

**A/N:** I'm making another chapter because a user named Vale requested that I make a chapter in Keefe's POV and I thought that was an awesome idea. So, Vale, this is for you. Hope you like it. I don't usually write in guy's POV because I don't know how they think, so I hope it's good. Enjoy!

KEEFE POV

It was 4 days after Foster went to my base quest game.

Not that I cared.

It was also 3 days since I've seen her.

Not that I was counting.

I don't know why she hasn't come to Foxfire for the last three days. I mean, I was waiting outside the telepathy class and she wasn't there for the 3rd time. When the door opened, it was only Fitz who walked out. He frowned when he saw me.

"Hey, man," he said. "What are you doing here?"

I flashed him a grin.

Not that my smirk was now reserved for Foster.

"What, I can't wait for my best friend to finish so I can beat him in some video games?"

I quickly glanced past him, wondering why she wasn't with him.

Not that I cared.

He snorted. " _Please._ Need I remind you who's name is on the top of the high score board?"

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."

I was wondering where Foster was, but I didn't want to ask him. That would be too weird, you know? So I tried a different approach.

"Is your sister going to be home with Foster today?" I put on a face of annoyance.

"Actually, no. Sophie's somewhere with my dad." Fitz rolled his eyes. I felt some jealousy coming off him but didn't say anything about it.

"For three days?" I asked.

He raised a brow. "What, you've been counting?"

I snorted loudly. "Please. The only thing I'll be counting is how many times I'll beat you in video games."

With that, we raced out the doors to Everglen.

"What's with you, man?"

"Huh?"

"Dude, you're not even playing anymore."

I looked down at my controller.

Oh, yeah.

I wasn't going to tell Fitz I was thinking about where Foster was or how she was doing. I mean, he told me before that Alden went on some pretty dangerous missions. Why was Foster even there? She could get hurt.

Not that I cared.

"What's wrong with you today?" Fitz asked again. "Biana just walked by and you didn't even help me tease her!"

"Yeah, sorry, I was just…thinking about something."

"About what?"

"Just…Alden's on another mission and they could be pretty dangerous." It was times like this where I was thankful I was the Empath and not the other way around.

"Oh, he'll be fi—" he trailed off.

"What?" I asked when he was looked at me with a grin on his face.

"You sure you're not just worried about my dad?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Pretty sure, yeah." I nodded, trying to convince myself more than him.

"Cause I told you Sophie went with him…and you seem to be pretty curious about it."

I scoffed. "Your point is?"

"You're worried about Sophie."

I pretended to gag and pulled a look of disgust on my face, ignoring my heart beating faster than normal at the mention of her name. "Looks like someone had too much Lushberry tea."

He shook his head, grinning wider. "You care about Sophie. Like, _care_ about her."

"Dude, gross!" I threw a pillow at his head, feeling my face heat up.

"Care about who?" Biana asked, walking in the room.

"S—"

I elbowed him in the ribs, ignoring the glare he gave me. "Nothing. Hey, don't you have some girly things you should be doing right now?"

She sighed, sitting on the couch next to me.

"No," she whined. "I already did my nails and hair and—"

"We don't care!" Fitz said.

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. The point is, I miss Sophie. When is she going to come from that stupid mission with Dad?"

I pretended not to care, but I wanted to know the answer to that question myself.

"I don't know, Dad didn't say," Fitz answered.

Biana sighed. "I just hope she's okay."

"She is—she's Sophie, remember? Even though she had some almost deaths—"

"Woah, woah," I blurted out. "What do you mean 'almost deaths'?"

Fitz just wiggled his eyebrows and I rolled my eyes, turning to Biana. She got the message.

"Well, she almost died a few times on missions…but she always turned out okay. Eventually."

I was still stuck on the word "died" to answer. If she keeps "almost dying," then why does she keep going on those stupid missions? She could die. I honestly don't know what I would do if she died.

Because, you know, she's my best friend's sister's friend.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of yelling outside.

"Is that…?" I trailed off, because Fitz was already running. Biana and I followed. Sure enough, it was Alden. But, guiltily, I wasn't very worried about him. I was worried about the unconscious, faded girl in his arms. I took in a sharp breath when I saw how colorless she looked.

"Someone hail Elwin!" Alden yelled weakly.

Fitz was on it and he quickly pulled out his imparter.

"Oh my God!" Biana yelled, voice cracking. "Not again. Is she okay? Are you okay, Dad?"

Alden was shaking pretty bad. "I can't…hold her much longer," he panted.

I ran over to him and took Sophie and held her. I could barely look at her she was so faded. And I couldn't even feel her emotions. Biana hovered over Sophie, blubbering, while Elwin finally arrived and got straight to work. I didn't take my eyes off her.

 _Please be okay, please be okay…_ I thought to myself. When I finally took my eyes off her, I realized my hands were shaking.

"Keefe, go take Biana inside," Elwin said.

"But…" I wanted to stay with Sophie, but Elwin gave me a look that made me say no more. I lead Biana inside so she could stop freaking out. I paced at the door for I don't know how long.

It was weird. Before I barely noticed Sophie. I first met her when Biana brung her to Everglen and I was there. I did think she was extremely pretty. She looked a bit shy and didn't say much, so I didn't pay much attention to her and got back to my game with Fitz.

We barely talked, only saying things like "excuse me" or "can you pass me that?" and I didn't know her at all. That is, until we went to the movies together. And then out to eat. And then I walked her home. And then I went to her house and spent the day there. After that day, I couldn't stop thinking about her. I saw her a few times in the halls after that day, but I never had the courage to walk up to her and talk. And that scared me because I never had that problem in my life. Hell, I was _known_ for walking up to girls and starting conversations. But she was different.

It was so funny to get on her nerves, because I love her reaction. I hate the way her nose scrunches up when she's concentrating. I can barely look at her without turning red when she does it, so I usually make her stop and tell her she looks like a chipmunk. She rolls her eyes, but unscrunches her nose anyway and I can finally look at her again. I hate it when she gets angry, and she clenches her jaw—it's adorable. Or when she laughs and her eyes get wide and she throws her head back and all I can do is grin like an idiot.

It's terrifying because no other girl made my heart pound in my chest just by looking at her. I never felt that way about anyone in my life and that scared me to death. Speaking of death…she could be dead. _Dead._ I closed my eyes at the thought, feeling anger bubble up inside me. She shouldn't have been on that stupid mission in the first place and now she could be dead. My breath quickened as I paced on the floor. Alden should have protected her better. Someone else could have went with them—hell, I would've went.

"Stupid mission," I said to myself, feeling my fists curl up.

"What?" Biana said from the couch.

I shook my head, turning back to the window to glare at nothing.

Biana and I waited for news for about an hour. Finally, Fitz and his dad walked in the door. I immediately jumped up, but didn't want anyone suspecting anything so I tried to stay calm.

"How is she?" Biana said, shoving me out the way. "Is she okay?"

Alden glanced at Fitz, so he cleared his throat. "Well…she hasn't woken up, yet. But is breathing, so that's good. She's at the Healing Center right now."

I let out the breath I didn't even know I was holding in. She's alive.

Alden had to rest, so he went to his room. The mood for video games was killed, so I left the Vacker's house and headed home. But I didn't want to go to Candleshade. I knew exactly where I wanted to go, so I walked there.

After sneaking in the school, I went down the halls until I saw the sign "Healing Center." I just needed to see that she was okay myself.

I peeked in the room. Elwin wasn't in there at the moment. Good. I looked further in and there she was. The anger immediately washed away and I sighed in relief. My heart pounded wildly as I walked toward her bed. She was still unconscious, but I saw her breathing. I could barely stand looking at her colorless face.

"Sophie?" I whispered.

No answer.

I grabbed her hand. I don't know why, but I did. Her hand was cold, but soft.

I don't know how long I held it, or how long I was there. But when I went outside, it was dark out.

The next day at Foxfire, I always found myself walking toward the Healing Center. Just to make sure she was okay. Every time I checked, she gained more and more color. I sigh with relief every time.

It was like that for a week. Okay, 8 days to be precise. But I swear, I wasn't counting! I was just…making sure she was okay so Biana wouldn't be all sad because her best friend died. Yeah.

That night I just couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned in bed for what seemed like hours. I glanced at the time, and the glowing red light read 4:12. I sighed loudly and threw off my blankets. I grabbed my shoes and coat and snuck out my house.

Okay, yes, I was going to check on Foster. But only because I can't sleep and what better way to fall asleep was be with Sophie? She makes me fall asleep with boredom all the time. I smirked.

 _Nice one, Keefester,_ I thought to myself.

When I got to the Healing Center, I was very tired. Figures.

I peeked though the door and, thankfully, Elwin wasn't there, only a still unconscious Sophie. I walked over and sat down in a chair next to her. Finally at peace, I felt my eyelids close and fell asleep before I could stop myself.

"Keefe…Keefe?…Keefe!"

I groaned, slowly waking up. "Yeah, yeah, Mom, I'm up." Mumbled tiredly, lazily waving her off. Why is my bed so hard? I wondered to myself.

I heard a faint laugh and it didn't sound like my mother's. I opened one eye halfway and then popped them both open. I had no idea where—

"Ow!" I groaned, sharp pain was coming from my neck. And as I rubbed it, I suddenly remembered where I was.

I feel asleep at the Healing Center.

Hopefully Elwin didn't see me, cause that would be embarra—

"Hi, Keefe."

I froze. Sophie woke up.

 _Sophie woke up!_

"Sleeping Beauty awakens," I smirked up at her. She looked like her own self again, all the color regained. I let out a breath of relief secretly. She was standing in front of me, taller for once due to the fact I was laying in a chair. An extremely uncomfortable one, I might add.

"This center needs comfortable chairs," I muttered, rubbing my neck.

I glanced up when I noticed she wasn't talking. Her brown eyes were wide and had a tiny smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

"You stayed with me." Her smile got bigger.

I scoffed, looking away from her gaze. "Don't flatter yourself, Foster."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw her put her hands on her hips. "Oh, so you _weren't_ here because of me?"

I stretched my legs, still not looking at her. "I told you, don't flatter yourself. If you must know I was…waiting for Elwin."

I was so glad she wasn't an Empath.

"What's wrong?" she asked when I winced in pain.

I rolled my neck. "My neck hurts. The things I do for you," I muttered.

"Yeah, probably cause your head was hanging off the chair," she said, smiling at the memory. "By the way, you snor."

I snorted. "I do not!"

"Louder than a train."

"Yeah? Well, you drool!"

I smirked as her face turned a bright red.

"Well…you talk in your sleep!"

"You walk in your sleep!"

This wasn't true, but there was no way Foster was going to get the last word.

"Well…I don't care, cause that's pretty cool." She grinned triumphantly.

"Yeah, not if you look like an 1,000 year old zombie."

"You should be the last one talking, He Who Did Not Do His Hair."

I felt my face get hot as I self-consciously reached for my hair. Oh, man. I probably look like a wreck. Keefe Sencen does not look like a wreck in front of the ladies.

"So, you were checking out the Keefester's hair, huh?" I smirked and wiggled my eyebrows, silently praying I didn't look as bad as I think I did.

"As _if!_ It was just so distracting because it's so messy."

"You know what else is distracting? Your smell. You've been in those clothes for more than a week."

Her face turned red again. Then she frowned. "I've been unconscious for 7 days?"

"9," I muttered, looking away.

"Woah…" she paused. "And you've been here for 9 days?"

I scoffed. "Please, I have better things to do than watch you drool all day."

She sighed in annoyance, but a slight smile formed on her lips. "Then why are you here?"

I froze, searching for the best excuse. "Be-e-cause…my dad ran out of Lushberry tea and Elwin has the lushberries. So I came here, but Elwin wasn't here and I accidentally feel asleep by your hypnotizing ogre smell."

I gave myself props for coming up with that so quickly.

Sophie rolled her eyes. "I do not smell like an ogre," she muttered.

"Sure about that?" I fanned the air for emphasis, smirking when she turned red again.

We fell silent after that. After a few minutes of uncomfotableness, I cleared my throat and finally stood up, stretching in the process. It felt good to be taller than her again.

"So," I said slowly. "I should tell everyone you're awake.

She nodded slowly, so I turned and began walking out the door when she called my name. I turned around and looked at her.

She looked at the ground. "Um…thanks for…you know, staying with me," she mumbled.

I smiled inwardly and felt my chest tighten. But I pulled a smirk to my face. "For the last time, Foster, stop flattering yourself, it's pathetic."

She sighed in annoyance, jaw clenching. " _Bye,_ Keefe."

I gave a cheesy salute. "Later, Foster." I walked out the door, but smirked and backed up. "And you better tell Elwin to wash that pillow. Your drool soaked all the way through."

" _Ugh!"_

I laughed, dodging the flying pillow aimed at my head.

It was worth it.

SOPHIE POV

It was only at night, after long hours of hugs and tears from friends and my parents, that I realized that that was Keefe's way of saying "your welcome."

 **A/N:** I hope you liked it! Feel free to leave a review and/or fav :)

Thanks again to Vale.

And ForeverFreeFall, sorry I didn't put any kissing but I want their relationship to build more and stuff, but they definitely will kiss later, stay tuned ;)


	4. Chapter 4: Movie Night

SOPHIE POV

"Stupid bed rest," I grumbled, kicking the stray pebbles as I walked.

It was 13 days after I came back from the mission with Alden. I'm not really sure what happened, but I do remember getting knocked in the head with something hard and having to teleport Alden out of there before I fainted, and faded.

According to Keefe, I woke up 9 days later from my a coma. Speaking of…I will never forget the look on his face when he saw me after he woke up.

I woke up first, due to the sound of him snoring louder than a train. I almost fell off the bed from shock when I saw a messy blond haired boy lying in a chair, head falling off the side and limbs spread out. I sat there for a good minute, making sure I wasn't dreaming.

Keefe Sencen cared about me.

Of course, I don't mean _that_ way…although that would be awesome…

Wait, what?

I shook my head, disgusted with myself for even having that _repulsing_ thought cross my mind.

Anyway, I shook him and called his name for a good five minutes before he finally woke up, thinking I was his mom. But when he saw it was me, he fully awakened and his icy blue eyes popped open. There was a mixture of shock and relief in his features. I took a good look at him, noticing he had his eyebrows knitted together and dark circles under his eyes. But then his face relaxed, and his eyes flashed and made a joke. But that look shocked me, and I never forgot it.

It was also 4 days after that and I haven't seen or heard from Keefe. Not that I cared—at _all._ I was glad I didn't have to deal with that annoying, cocky boy.

At least, that's what I kept telling myself.

Grady and Edaline put me on "bed rest" after what happened. I felt bad, because they were so scared of losing me again. But I haven't breathed fresh air for days because they would never leave my side even though I was fine. Finally, they allowed me to leave the house and I was headed to a field I liked to go to to clear my head.

When I got there, I took a walk, enjoying the fresh air when I noticed someone was throwing rocks into the pond farther off. I shrugged and kept walking.

When I got closer, I noticed it was a boy. He was skipping rocks and I was impressed because it skipped nearly 10 times. Although, the way he was standing was oddly familiar. And his messy blond hair was also familiar. I frowned, walking closer until I realized it was _Keefe._

I stopped. I came to this place a lot, especially after missions. I've _never_ seen him here before. I began to continue walking, minding my own business. But then I stopped. For some weird reason, I wanted to see him. Because…I liked to see skipping rocks. Yeah.

His back was to me, and I quietly picked up a flat rock, flicked my wrist…and watch it plop into the water with absolutely no skips. Well, then.

When Keefe saw the rock he didn't throw, he jumped and turned around. His blue eyes were wide and he clutched the rock in his hand tightly. When he saw it was me, he blinked. Then he relaxed his body and pulled a smirk to his face. That damn smirk.

"Following me, Foster?"

I scoffed, picking up another rock. "You wish. I just came to show you how it's _really_ done."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" he stepped back and opened his arm. "Please do."

I walked next to him, feeling him smirking at me as I flicked my wrist and watched it skip…once. I huffed, turning to the smirking boy next to me.

"The rock slipped," I said.

He just rolled his eyes in amusement and skipped a rock and we watched it go…eleven times. I didn't have to look at him to know he was grinning at me.

After silently watching him for a few minutes, I noticed something was off. He was oddly quiet. Usually, he'd be firing corny jokes and cocky smirks. But that day…nothing. I also noticed his body was tense. I frowned.

"Um…are you okay?" I asked slowly.

He threw a rock particularly hard and it didn't skip this time. "Just peachy."

"Since when do you use the word 'peachy'?"

"Since now." He stopped throwing rocks and turned away, glaring at nothing.

I said nothing more, but compensated leaving him or alone or trying to figure out what's up. Guess what I chose?

I slowly walked to him until I was standing next to him. "What's up?"

He didn't answer the question, though. "You know I once swam in here?" he said, referring to the pond in front of us.

"I wouldn't be surprised."

He turned to me with a grin on his face. "Nude."

" _Ugh!_ " I said, pretending to gag. "You did not, seeing as no one here is blinded."

"By my handsomeness?" he flashed a cocky smirk. "I know, right?"

"Define 'handsomeness.'" I turned to him before he could reply, narrowing my eyes. "And don't think I didn't notice you didn't answer my question."

His smirk faded. "I told you—I'm just peachy."

"But—"

"I have to go, my…dad wants me home. Later!" he turned and walked away before I could say another word. I sighed. But then, an idea popped into my head. I grinned and pulled out my imparter.

"Show me Fitz."

* * *

I knocked on the door, waiting patiently.

After three minutes, the door finally opened revealing a tall, slim, blond woman with her hair pulled into an elegant up do. Her shimmery green dress almost blinded me, and her familiar icy blue eyes bored into mine. I swallowed.

"Ah, yes, Sophie Foster." She spoke slowly, searching my face. Her voice was deeper than I expected. "What do you want?"

The woman scared the crap out of me. "I…uh…"

She scoffed, waving me off like I was a dirty tissue. "Never mind. I'm sure you're here to see my son." Her smile was a bit mischievous, so I was hesitant to answer.

"Uh…yes, I am."

She stepped to the side, her dress swaying with her every movement. "Come in, I suppose."

I stepped in, staring in awe at the architecture of the house. It would make even Havenfield look like a cabin compared to _this._

"Keefe is on the 112th floor," she said, swaying past.

"Uh…t-thanks," I stuttered.

She lazily waved her hand and kept walking.

I looked around, wondering if I had to walk up 12 flights of stairs. But then I saw a tube that looked like it could be an elevator. I walked to it, reading the name.

"Vordinator," I read. I shrugged, stepping in. The doors immediately closed. I looked around frantically. There were no buttons like on an elevator.

"Where's the stupid 112th floor button," I muttered.

Suddenly, the Vordinator thingy zoomed up. I screamed, grabbing onto the railings and dropping the things in my hand. This was no elevator! The thing felt as if it went 100 miles per hour!

I closed my eyes and felt my lunch coming up. Then suddenly, it stopped and I was thrown into the wall in front of me. I shakily got up after a few minutes, grabbing the stuff and wobbling out of it as fast as I could.

"What _is_ that contraption?" I breathed to myself, trying to calm down.

After taking deep breaths, I noticed I was in a hallway with only one door.

" _Must be Keefe's room,_ " I thought to myself. I slowly walked up and knocked on the door.

"Yes, Mom, I cleaned the 50th floor," a deep, annoyed sounding voice said through the closed door.

I grinned, and cleared my throat and did the best impression of his mom voice. "I _told_ you to clean the 51st floor, not 50th!"

I winced at my pathetic attempt to mimic. No wonder I was failing in the polygot class. There was no answer, only the sound of shuffling and then the door swinging open.

"Why do you sound so—" he stopped talking when he saw me.

If I could trade all my abilities for the ability to go back in time, I would do it in a heartbeat to see the look on Keefe's face another time. He stood there, gawking at me, his jaw was slacking, and looking at me as if I were some ghost.

" _Sophie?_ "

I was taken aback because he never calls me by my first name. I stood there, smirking until I looked down.

He was shirtless.

I immediately felt my face burn up and I quickly looked away (seriously, what guy his age had muscles like _that?_ ), trying to pull the smirk back on my face but failing miserably.

He was too busy looking like a shocked statue to notice, thankfully. I brushed passed him, walking into his room and looking around.

I guess he finally regained his composure because he turned around. "W-what…what are you _doing_ here?" he stuttered, his blue eyes wide.

"Operation: Cheer-up-the-shirtless-boy-who-needs-to-put-clothes-on-before-I-walk-out-of-here-blind," I said with a smirk, using all of my will power not to stare at his (gorgeous) chest.

I noticed him turn a light shade of pink as he scrambled for a shirt and I laughed.

"What is that vordinator thing? It almost killed me," I said, unshamefully watching him as he pulled a shirt on.

His head popped out of the neck hole and he grinned. "Is that why your hair's all a mess?"

I inwardly groaned, searching around for a mirror. To my surprise, there were none so I did my best to fix it quickly.

"Sophie…why are you here?" he asked when he had a shirt on (and I could finally breathe again).

"I…" I sighed, scratching my neck awkwardly. "Well, you looked upset earlier and I didn't come here to find out why I just came to cheer you up so I brought some movies I love and think you'll like because it's what I do when I'm upset and I just wanted to cheer you up because I've never seen you upset before and I asked Fitz where you lived but don't worry you don't have to tell me why your upset but I had nothing better to do but if you want I can leave or—"

"Sophie?"

I took a breath. There I went, blabbing my mouth. I blushed a little, embarrassed for my little outburst.

"Yeah?" I said after a while, looking at the floor.

"Shut up so I can get the popcorn," he said in a kind voice, eyes twinkling in amusement.

I grinned. "Okay."

He walked out the room and I began to set up the DVD player that Dex made for me. As I put the player on his desk I noticed he had a lot of drawings scattered all over the room and it dawned on me that Keefe _drew_ those. And there were a _lot_ of books. I mean, they were stacked as tall of me and there were 5 rows of them, and other books sprawled around. I picked one up and the cover read: "The Mysteries of Science."

I smiled. "Dork."

I was finished setting everything up and planted myself on the floor on the foot of his bed, waiting for him to return. About 5 minutes later, Keefe came back with a huge bowl of popcorn and a sour look on his face.

"What's wrong?" I asked, frowning.

He shook his head and forced a smile. "Nothing. So, what movies did you bring?" his icy blue eyes still looked sad but I answered anyway.

"The Batman trilogy. I put in _Batman Begins_ first," I said.

He just blinked. "The what begins?"

I did a double take. "You guys don't know Batman?"

"Uh, no. _Bat_ man? What kind of name is that?" he shook his head, shoving popcorn in his mouth.

"Okay, you haven't lived yet," I said, shaking my head. "You'll thank me after this."

He shrugged. "If you say so."

He passed me the bowl of popcorn, turned off the light, and plopped on his bed.

"You know," he said after getting settled. "You don't have to sit on the floor."

"Oh." I got up and sat on the edge of his bed and turned to him. "You ready?" I said excitedly.

He laughed. "Yeah, yeah, just play it."

I pressed play and the movie started. It was quiet except for the sound of Keefe's ridiculously loud chewing. I sighed in annoyance, leaning closer to hear the movie. I turned to him, making sure he knew his chewing annoyed me. He shot me a grin when he saw me with popcorn kernels still stuck in his teeth.

"You're disgusting!" I said, turning back to the screen.

About halfway through the movie (thankfully, Keefe's loud chewing stopped due to the popcorn being gone) I noticed Keefe sat up, unconsciously leaning forward in interest. I smiled.

When the movie finished, it was already dark out. I looked at Keefe, grinning.

"So?" I said. "How was it?"

"Hurry up and put the next one in!" he said, jumping up and grabbing the empty bowl. "I'll get more popcorn." He ran out the room.

I felt a surge of pride at his reaction and put in the next movie, The Dark Night (my favorite one [ **A/N:** this is also one of my favorite movies! It's _amazing!_ Okay, on with the story…]).

I sat at the head of the bed so I can lean against the wall, hoping Keefe didn't mind. He didn't, however, and I don't think he even noticed I moved. He ran back into the room, popcorn spilling, and jumped onto the bed next to me. My face flushed at our close proximity.

"Is it in?" he asked.

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

"Then what are you waiting for? Play it!"

"Okay, okay, jeez," I said, laughing, and played the movie.

Halfway through the movie, I found myself watching Keefe. Only because I was seeing if he enjoyed it! Yeah.

I wasn't paying much attention to the movie because I've seen it hundreds of times. But I watched Keefe as he leaned forward, slowly putting popcorn in his mouth, and his eyes widen. I watched his mouth hang open when Rachel died because of the Joker's genius trick. I watched his fist curl on the sheets in anticipation to see which boat will blow up first. I watched him softly gasp when Harvey and Batman fell off the roof. I watched his body relax in relief when Batman was got up, but frowned when the cops chased him. I watched him blink in surprise when the movie suddenly ended. Wow, I sound like a creep!

He abruptly turned to me, catching me looking at him. I quickly looked away and shoved popcorn in my mouth, feeling my face burn from embarrassment. I expected a tease, but he only asked if there was another movie.

"Uh, _yeah,_ " I said, getting up and putting in The Dark Night Rises. I played the movie and sat back down next to Keefe, yawning ( **A/N:** guys I literally yawned right after typing that lol!…*listens to the silence*…yeah, I'll get on with the story). I felt our shoulders brush as I sat and I got this weird feeling in my stomach.

Must have been the popcorn or…something. Yeah.

Anyway.

After hearing Bane's voice, Keefe said,

"Woah, his voice is awesome!"

I turned to him in shock. "Are you kidding? No, it's not."

He turned to me. "What? Yes it is!"

"He sounds like a wheezy old man!"

"No, he sounds cool and unique!"

I scoffed. "You're so weird."

"How? I bet everyone else likes his voice."

"I don't care, I don't like it! He sounds like he's losing his voice and dying at the same time."

He laughed. "You're unbelievable."

I was about to reply when I noticed how _close_ we were—not that I cared! But, our faces were just inches apart and our shoulders were pressed together. I immediately felt my face flame (curse my ability to blush so quickly!) and turned away, heart pounding.

"You're missing the movie," I told him.

He turned away, too. "See what you did? I missed half the movie."

I laughed at his ridiculousness. "Keefe, the movie just started."

"Wait, who is that guy?" he said, pointing to the screen. "See? Now I don't know what's happening!"

I shook my head, realizing it was pointless to argue with him and yawned again, feeling tired. I've been trying to catch up on my classes because I was unconscious for more than a week. I felt my eyelids close for just a second. Just…

I felt someone pushing me gently as I slowly woke up. I first noticed something smelled good. This wasn't a good smell food wise, this was a good smell…I couldn't even describe it. Although, it did smell oddly familiar…

The second thing I noticed was how warm my bed was. Man, I can get used to this! I snuggled closer to my pillow. Wait…why is my pillow so hard? Is that a… _bone?_ My eyes popped open and I took in my surroundings. Dark room…TV screen showing credits…Keefe's bed—wait, Keefe?!

I jumped up, looking to my left. Sure enough, a smirking boy sat next to me. I fell asleep on Keefe. I felt my stomach flip at the thought. Flip out of disgust, of course!

"Ah, Sleeping Beauty awakens," Keefe said. It might have been the light, but he looked a bit red. Yeah, probably the lighting.

"I…but…" I stuttered, looking at the credits on the TV. "I closed my eyes for a second!"

"Apparently not," he said. "Seriously, you are a heavy sleeper."

I changed the subject before my face could get anymore red. "Did you like it?"

" _Did_ I? It was awesome! Especially the third movie."

I snorted. "The second is better."

"What? Bane is so cool!"

"So is The Joker! In a…psychopathic kind of way."

He scoffed. "But it was so good, especially the part when Bruce was in the ditch thing."

"Yeah," I agreed. "But I think the plot line for the second was better."

He shook his head. "No way. And Bane's voice just made it a thousand times better."

I rolled my eyes. "Again with this?"

But something hit me before he could reply. "What time is it?"

Keefe got up (leaving the bed surprisingly lonely) and turned on the light, checking the clock. "It's almost 9."

"9?!" I jumped up. "Grady and Edaline are gonna kill me!" I scrambled for my stuff.

"Really? Ooh, I wanna watch!" Keefe said, the happy glint back in his blue eyes.

I smiled, glad he was feeling better. Operation: Success.

When I got my stuff, reluctantly made my way to the vortinator ( **A/N** : yeah, I realize I was spelling that word wrong but oh, well, I don't feel like changing it lol). Surprisingly, Keefe followed me and we both stepped inside.

"Ready?" Keefe asked, grinning.

I sighed, grabbing the railing. "I—"

"One!" Keefe yelled before I could finish, and the thing shot down at inhumane speed. I screamed, grabbing onto the railing as my hair flew up in every possible direction. I dropped the movies in the mean time, but didn't care because I felt like I was going to lose all the popcorn in my stomach. Finally, it stopped and I was thrown into a laughing Keefe. He caught me, laughing even.

"That was hilarious!" he said between breaths.

"You didn't even let me finish my sentence before you shot us into hell!" I said, annoyed (but slightly content with him holding me).

"I know, I'm sorry, but come on, it was funny," he grinned down at me, eyes twinkling.

I couldn't help but smile back. "Maybe a little."

He let me go when he must have realized he was still holding me and cleared his throat, picking up the movies and handing them to me.

He followed me to the door and put on his shoes.

"Oh, you don't have to walk me home," I said.

"I told you, I want to see you get killed by Grady and Edaline," he said, smirking.

I rolled my eyes but turned away before he could see my relived smile.

The walk was uncomfortably quiet. Keefe look like he was thinking about something important, eyebrows scrunched up and everything every time I looked at him.

I finally broke the silence. "Will your parents be mad you're out this late?"

"My parents won't give a damn," he snapped.

I looked down, wishing I had kept my mouth shut.

Keefe sighed after a minute. "Sorry," he mumbled. "It's…" he trailed off.

"What?" I asked.

He didn't answer. I thought he was going to ignore me when he finally said something so low I barely heard it.

"My parents," he finally said.

"Oh…" I bit my lip, searching for something— _anything_ to say but he surprised me by continuing. He started off talking extremely low, something he rarely does. He tripped over words, accidentally repeated things, and ran his hand through his hair multiple times as he spoke.

I finally realized he hasn't done this in a while, if ever. He was opening up to _me_. I felt extremely grateful for this, and listened the entire time. I didn't speak at all, not even when he paused.

At some point, he trailed off in mid sentence, probably thinking he shouldn't have even began speaking. I don't know why I did it, but I grabbed his hand for reassurance. He didn't pull back he just blinked in surprise. I gave his hand a squeeze, urging him to continue. Although this time, holding his hand was extremely different. I felt…something. I don't know what or why, but is was there and the feeling never stopped.

He continued to talk, no longer stuttering or repeating his words so much. When I sa my house coming up to view, he finished talking. I thought about what to say. I knew the very last thing he wanted was pity. So a cliché "I'm sorry" was just out of the question. So, I said,

"That sucks."

He nodded. "Yeah, it does."

Then an idea struck me. I let go of his hand (and it felt cold and oddly lonely after, and that feeling went away) and handed him the movies.

"No, I—" he started.

"Keefe, just take it. You need it more than I do."

He looked at me carefully before taking it. "Thanks."

"Besides, I can just teleport to the Forbidden Cities again and buy more," I shrugged.

Then I sighed, because we were now in front of my house and I didn't want to leave…because I like being outside. Yeah.

"Well. Here's my house," I said slowly.

"Yup." He popped the p and rocked on the balls of his feet.

"Bye," I said, beginning to walk away.

"Oh, and…Sophie?"

I turned, surprised he was using my first name again. "Yeah?"

"Thanks. For…" he gestured with his hands. "everything."

My heart felt like it fell down a flight of stairs and I rubbed my sweaty hands on my clothes. "No problem!" I said a little too loudly.

He sent me one last smirk (that damn smirk) and walked away.

I opened the door, a doofy smile on my face.

"Sophie?"

I winced. I forgot about the wrath coming my way.

Grady and Edaline came into view, but she had a smile on her face.

"Was that Keefe Sencen?" she said, smile getting bigger.

"Uh…yeah. Wait, were you watching me?"

She just waved me off, turning to Grady. "See? That's the boy she's dating."

My eyes popped out of my skull. _Dating?_ Me and _him?_

"I'm not—"

"Hmm, those Sencens are always trouble," Grady said disapprovingly.

"No, I—"

"Are you going to invite him over for dinner sometime, Sophie?" Edaline said.

" _Mom!_ "

* * *

 **A/N:** I hope you guys liked that. This one's a longer one!

Favs and reviews are appreciated :)

BTW, I'm continuing this story because I didn't expect people to actually _like_ it so thanks you to every one who's faved, followed, and reviewed and I greatly appreciate it! I have some ideas for new chapters so stay tuned!

Oh, and I love Bane's voice, so I'm totally with Keefe :P

Did I mention I love The Dark Night?

Okay, I'll stop, now…


	5. Chapter 5: Witness of Love

**A/N:** So I though it'd be interesting to see Sophie and Keefe's relationship in someone else's point of view. Hope you like!

BIANA POV

My best friend is ridiculous.

Absolutely ridiculous.

She's in denial. See, Sophie keeps saying that she doesn't like Keefe, but always manages to bring him up in our conversations. She'll have this certain smile on her face whenever she talks about him. She doesn't even realize she likes him! And neither does he!

Like before, Fitz and I watched them argue about a cup for almost an hour. They were saying who should throw it away because one of them touched it last. They sat on the couch in the living room, unconsciously grinning as they said the most ridiculous things.

"You touched it last!"

"No, _you_ did!"

"It's right next to you."

"No, it's in the middle."

"It's _clearly_ on your side of the couch."

"Fine." Keefe picked up the cup and threw it at her. Sophie caught it, so Keefe said, "HA! You touched it last."

"That's not fair, you threw it at me!"

"So? It still counts."

I went over and picked up the cup myself, but they didn't even acknowledge my presence. They argued about a cup that wasn't even there!

"Are they serious?" Fitz said, watching them bicker.

I smiled. "It's cute, though."

"They're ridiculous."

"Absolutely ridiculous."

It didn't stop there. One night, someone knocked on the door so I opened it. Sophie stood there, and I did a double take.

"What are you _wearing?_ " I shrieked.

For starters, her hair was in the sloppiest ponytail I've ever seen. There were stray hairs poking out, and bumps. Her shirt had five different holes in it, and it laid lazily on her shoulders. Her jeans were wrinkled and I was pretty sure there was a stain on it. Lastly, her shoes were these weird things where it showed her whole foot and has these lines between the toes.

Sophie saw me staring at them and laughed. "They're called flip-flops."

I blinked. "Do you need clothes, Sophie? Because you can have mine—"

"Relax. Since you and Fitz can't come out to eat because you have to go somewhere with your dad, it would only be Keefe and I. But it's _not_ a date. Actually, it's the opposite."

"Ooooookay…" I said slowly. "Why do you look like _that,_ then?"

"Well, on dates people dress up. Since this is a _not_ date, I'm doing the opposite."

I sighed loudly. "You're unbelievable."

There was another knock on the door, and I opened it. Keefe was standing there with a smirk on his face. Sure enough, it looked like Keefe had the same idea. He was dressed just as bad, if not worse. His air lay flat on his head, completely unstyled. His shirt had the most wrinkles I've ever seen, and his pants were inside-out.

"You too?" I said in disbelief.

"Yup." He turned to Sophie. "Hey, Foster. You look…terrible."

"You look hideous," she said with a smile.

I blinked, not sure if I was hearing right. "Did you guys just…insult each other?"

"Well," Keefe explained, "on a date people compliment each other—"

"And since this is a _not_ date," Sophie cut in. "We're doing the opposite."

"Hey, what's date backwards?" Keefe wondered. "E-T-A-D." he spelled out.

They both pondered on how to pronounce that while I stood there, mouth agape at the two. After a few moments or two, Keefe shrugged.

"Eh, who cares?"

"Guys?" I said. "Why did you come here instead of just go straight to the restaurant?"

"Yeah, I was wondering that, too," Fitz said, walking into the room. He took a good long look at their outfits and shook his head with a sigh.

"Well on a real date," Sophie began. "Keefe would come and pick me up from my house."

"But since this is a _not_ date," Keefe explained. "We meet up here and just go together and no one has to pick up anyone."

They grinned at each other, looking quite proud of themselves.

"Um…have fun?" Fitz said slowly.

"See, that's what you would do on a real date," Keefe said. "But we're going to try to bore each other, because it's a _not_ date."

"That…doesn't even make any sense!" I said.

Keefe ignored me. "Come on, Foster," Keefe said, leading her out the door. "Our _not_ date awaits!"

She followed him out and waved to me and Fitz and then closed the door.

"Are they _serious?_ " Fitz asked in disbelief.

I shrugged. "They're cute, though."

"They're ridiculous."

"Absolutely ridiculous."

They had a different relationship. The first time they hung out—when I forced Keefe to go to the movies with Sophie—I asked her how it went the next day. Sophie shrugged and said it was actually pretty fun. I was surprised because Keefe can come off a bit rude and annoying when you first meet him. But he softens up as he gets comfortable.

"But it was just a one time thing," Sophie had said. "We probably won't hang out again. Plus, he's _so_ annoying."

I rolled my eyes. "Tell me about it. Don't worry, I won't ever have Keefe go out with you again."

And I didn't. But Keefe and Sophie seemed to hang out a lot without my help. Sophie told me they were partners for a project and they got an F, but had a good time. She also told me that Keefe stayed with her when she was unconscious. And she told me that she went to Keefe's house for the day to show him some movie about bats.

The two seemed to always find some sort of excuse to hang out with each other. Of course, they would say it meant nothing and they only hung out because they were bored. But Keefe's face after they hung out would glow and Sophie's eyes would shine, but they didn't even know it.

The day after Keefe and Sophie went on their "not date," they came to my house. I asked her how it went, and she told me it was "okay." Supposedly, they had a contest to see who bored the other more. I shook my head with a sigh. But she still had the light in her eyes and Keefe had the glow on his face when they walked in.

Hours later, Sophie announced she had to leave and Keefe made some excuse to leave as well. The two walked out the door, and I was pretty sure Keefe walked her home. Again.

"They're in denial," Fitz said.

"They are," I agreed. "But they're still cute."

"They're still ridiculous."

"Absolutely ridiculous."

 **A/N:** I hope you enjoyed. And sorry for the long wait for the update, but I couldn't use the laptop.

Also, apparently Keefe has sky blue eyes—it said that in Neverseen (I read it a few days ago, and all I can say is AAAAAYYYEEEEE) but in the first book it said he had "icy blue eyes," so I said that in my story. I just wanted to clear that up.

Favs and Reviews appreciated :)


	6. Chapter 6: Mall

**A/N:** I hope you like this chapter!

Favs and reviews are greatly appreciated :)

* * *

SOPHIE POV

"So, have you watched the movies I gave you?"

"Yeah, like three times."

I smiled. It was the end of the day at Foxfire, and I waited for Keefe to get out of his Elvin History class. Of course, he went on and on about how boring it was and I had to agree. Now, we were walking out the doors of Foxfire.

"Wait, how'd you even get the movies anyway?" Keefe asked, frowning in confusion. "Elves don't know about Batman."

"I told you, I have to teleport to the Forbidden Cities." I felt a little hesitant telling him this because I could get in serious trouble for going to the human world. Key word: Forbidden.

Keefe stopped walking. "Wait. You were serious when you said that? You can actually teleport?"

"Yeah." I sighed, telling him my long story of how I have half horse DNA and was living in the human world for twelve years. When I finished, Keefe's icy blue eyes were wide.

"Woah. That's…so cool!"

I breathed a sigh of relief. The prodigies gave me a hard time, calling me a freak and other names. I thought Keefe think I was weird, too.

"I have an idea!" Keefe's eyes had that mischievous glint in them and I groaned.

"Oh, no. Keefe, I will not help you put and exuilers in Dame Alina's office."

"Doesn't matter—I already did."

I sighed.

"But I wasn't going to say that. I was going to say we could have an adventure to the Forbidden Cities! You can get more Batman movies." he gave me his lopsided grin and I had a half a mind to actually say yes. I shook my head, looking away from his—God help me—cute grin.

"Absolutely not," I finally said, wondering if I should have told him I could teleport in the first place.

"Aw, come on," he pressed. "It'll be so fun! I won't tell anyone."

I shook my head. "No. Do you know how much trouble we'll get in?"

"Um, have you forgotten I'm the king of sneaking into places without getting caught?"

"Keefe, this isn't sneaking into Dame Alina's office. This is going to the human world. We could get expelled!"

"And spend the rest of our lives with no more school? Sounds good to me." He held up his hand for a high-five but I ignored it.

He groaned. "Come on, Foster. We'll be in and out." He kept asking and begging for about 5 minutes until I had enough.

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "If I say yes, then will you stop bothering me about it?"

"Yes!" he said excitedly, rocking on his feet.

"In and out," I said, looking him in the eye. "Only 5 minutes."

He opened his mouth to argue, but gave in. "Fine, you're the boss. Anything else?"

"Yes. You can't tell anyone—not even Fitz. Got it?"

He let out a long sigh but agreed.

I looked around to make sure none of the other prodigies were looking and grabbed Keefe's wrist and pulled him to the side of the building. I ignored the feeling I got in my stomach again. I hoped he couldn't feel my mood change.

"Woah, Foster," Keefe said. "If you wanted to be alone, you could have just asked."

I felt my face warm and let go of his wrist.

"To teleport I have to fall from high grounds," I explained, pointing to the cliff at the edge of the small forest on the side of the building. "So we have to jump off that cliff."

Keefe looked at the cliff and then back at me. "Hmm. Sounds…fun. Ladies first."

I walked ahead of him until I reached the edge, looking down at the drop. This was my 5th time teleporting, but I still didn't like the jump. I looked back at Keefe and he was standing a safe distance away from the edge. He craned his neck to look at the drop and nervously ran his fingers through his hair. I couldn't help it—it was pretty attractive.

I cleared my throat. "Come on, you scared?"

That seemed to encourage him. He walked next to me and pumped his fist into the air. "Let's do this!"

I made sure no one was around and then grabbed Keefe's hand. I felt my heart leap. Probably because off the drop. Yeah.

"We jump on three," I said, voice quivering the slightest bit. I felt his hand squeeze mine more and I got that feeling in my stomach again.

I took a breath and concentrated. I started counting slowly.

"One…"

"Two…"

"Three!" we both yelled, and we launched off the cliff.

Keefe yelled, whooped, hollered, and shrieked as we fell. I stayed silent, focusing on creating the void and pictured my old home in San Diego. Finally, the void was created and we fell in. When we were out, we fell on the ground in a tangled heap next to my old house.

I managed to land in Keefe arms, so we were practically hugging. I looked at his face and his icy blue eyes were wide and I saw a blush form on his cheeks. I felt my face warm as well and heart rate increase. I scrambled up, unwrapping my arms around him. He unwrapped his arms as well and I stood up, the smell of him and the warmth leaving. I turned away, doing my best to hide my flaming cheeks from him.

"This. Is. Awesome!" Keefe said excitedly, breaking the awkward silence. "We're actually in a Forbidden City! Foster, you are finally cool." He sniffed. "Ugh, what's that smell?" He crinkled his nose and I felt my face flush again. God help me, but it was adorable.

"Pollution," I answered, rubbing my temples in pain.

"What's wrong?" Keefe asked.

"Human thoughts are so much louder and easier to hear," I explained, blocking out the loud, obnoxious thoughts of humans.

"Human emotions are so much stronger, too," Keefe said. "I can feel that lady's emotions from here!" he was pointing to a woman walking her dog about 50 feet away.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise, and then realized something. "Keefe, we're still in our foxfire uniforms!"

He looked down at his cape. "Oh, yeah. Should we take off our capes?"

"Yeah, they don't look like human clothes." We took off our capes and hid them behind a bush in the front yard of my old house, which was much more smaller than I remembered.

"Okay," I told Keefe. "I'm getting the movies at the mall and then we're out of here."

"What's a mall?" he said with a frown.

"You'll see." I look the route to the mall that I know very well because I went a lot before. After 10 minutes of walking and getting looks because of our elfish clothes, we finally arrived at the mall. Keefe looked up at the building with an open mouth.

I laughed. "Keefe, people are giving you weird looks." I watched a woman and her son look at Keefe gape at the building.

"What's in it?" Keefe asked.

"A whole bunch of different stores. We're _only_ going to a store called Best Buy to get the movies and then we're out. Okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

I lead him through the doors and we walked through the big halls with stores on every side. Keefe looked so excited, taking everything in and I couldn't help but smile.

"What's in that store right there? It says Victoria's Secret….Oh."

I laughed at his slightly red face and he looked away. But I noticed there a group of teenage girls walking out of the store and one of them saw Keefe. Her jaw dropped and she nudged her friends, who all saw him and started drooling. Keefe, however, was oblivious to this and kept looking in awe at the stores. I clenched my jaw, glaring at the girls. But they looked straight through me and kept ogling him.

"I forgot elves look like models," I muttered.

"What?" Keefe said.

I nodded my head to the direction of the girls who looked like a pack of hungry wolves. "Elves look like models, so you're attracting a lot of attention." I couldn't help but say that a bit bitterly.

Keefe slowly grinned. "Are you saying I look like a model?"

"I'm saying _all_ elves look like models. With the exception of Bronte, of course."

"Yeah, and I'm an elf. So you're saying I'm hot?" he wiggled his eyebrows.

He was more than just hot, but there was no way I was telling him that. "Here's Best Buy!" I said quickly, pulling him in the store.

Keefe snorted, looking at the TVs on display. "Humans and their technology. This is so 50 years ago."

I searched for the Batman movies while Keefe wandered around the store. I couldn't find Batman Begins because it's pretty old, so I just got the last two and searched for Keefe. I found him in the video game aisle, looking at the consoles and muttering something about how it was old technology. I began walking to him when I saw the girl who was ogling him saunter over to him. My smile fell. That creep followed him!

"Hi, I'm Amanda," the girl said, standing awfully close to him. She had long, brown hair and big blue eyes. I had to admit, she was pretty.

"I'm Keefe." He backed up slightly and turned his attention back to the games.

"Handsome name for a handsome guy." She winked.

I silently gagged and glared at her. If looks could kill, she'd already be berried and forgotten.

"Um, thanks," Keefe said.

"You wanna go get something to eat at the food court?"

How dare she ask out Keefe! He's…he's not mine. He's not my boyfriend, we're just friends. He can date whoever he wants. I felt my fists curl at the thought.

I stomped away, not wanting to hear Keefe's answer.

 _Why do I even care?_ I thought to myself. _I don't even like Keefe like that…right?_ Ugh! _What do you mean, "right?" I_ don't _like him! He can date whoever he—_

"You got the movies?"

It was Keefe. I pulled a smile to my face. "Yup." I paused before asking, "So. I saw you talking to that girl over there. Did she ask you out?"

"Of course she did," he said, flashing a cocky smirk.

"Well…what'd you say?" I tried my best to keep a normal face on as I mentally prepared myself for his answer.

"You know, Foster, I can feel when people get jealous." He grinned his crooked grin.

I felt my face warm and I turned away, muttering "Empaths."

"Uh, I gotta go pay for these!" I said too loudly, walking to the cashier.

Last time I came here, I traded a cheap Elvin coin with cash with some guy. I pulled out the money and paid, walking back to Keefe.

"Did you just pay with paper?" he frowned.

I laughed. "It's human money."

His frown got deeper before he shook his head in disbelief.

"Okay, let's go home," I said, walking out the store. Keefe sighed behind me but followed. That is, until he saw Dairy Queen.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing to the ice cream.

"That is ice cream," I said. "It's almost as good as mallowmelt."

He gasped. "No, way! Can we get some, Foster?"

I shook my head. "No, we're leaving."

"Aw, come on! I just wanna taste." He pouted and, God help me, I found it adorable and gave in. I bought us some cookie dough ice cream and handed one to Keefe. He took a bite, and his eyes instantly lit up. I smiled.

"Woah, this is almost as good as mallow melt," he said in awe. "And it's even better than custard bursts."

I smiled, spooning some into my mouth. "I didn't realize how much I missed ice cream."

Keefe demolished his bowl in a matter of 30 seconds. After it was gone, he looked longingly at it before he started licking the bowl.

"Keefe!" I exclaimed, embarrassed by the disgusted looks people gave us.

He stopped after he licked every possible drop of ice cream and looked up at me with his (cute) crooked grin.

I laughed. "You have ice cream on your nose."

He tried to lick it with his tongue, but failed. Without thinking, I reached over and wiped the ice cream off his nose with my thumb. I noticed his face flushed a little and I pulled away quickly, my thumb tingling.

I cleared my throat. "So. Ready to go?"

"I guess." Keefe took another longing look at the ice cream before following me. That is until he saw a gumball machine, asking what it was. He begged to let him try it after I told him what it was, so I gave him a quarter. After successfully getting one, he popped it into his mouth.

"Hmm," he judged. "It's not as good as the ice cream, but not bad." He chewed noisily and I rolled my eyes in annoyance at his unnecessary loud chewing.

"Hey," he said, nudging me. I felt that feeling in my stomach again at his touch. "What's that?" he pointed to his left.

"It's a claw machine," I told him. "You use it to win toys, like stuffed animals."

"Can I try it?"

"You wanna get a stuffed animal?" I asked in shock.

He just shrugged, so I gave him a couple of quarters and he started playing. He didn't get anything on the first try, or the second.

"We're gonna be here all day, aren't we?" I said, giving Keefe more quarters.

"I will defeat this!" he said in determination.

After the 10th try, I told Keefe to just forget it but he said a machine wasn't going to "defeat" him, so I sighed and watched.

After the 20th try, I said,

"Keefe this is too painful to watch."

"Hold on, I think I got it!" he stuck his tongue out on the side of his mouth and I couldn't help but just watch him because it was cute.

I lost count by the time he _finally_ won. He grabbed the purple stuffed animal wolf and held it up in victory.

"It's so cute!" I said, looking at its big, brown eyes and tongue sticking out. "And it only took you about 30 minutes to win it."

"Hey, it wasn't 30 minutes," he said defensively. He suddenly looked away and ran his fingers through his hair (attractively) nervously.

"Here, you can have it," he held out, not looking at me.

I felt my face warm. "No, you spent a lot of time trying to win it."

"I don't even know what it is."

"It's a wolf."

"Well whatever, it's yours."

"No you spent all this time trying to win it and I don't want to just take it I mean don't you want it I don't want to just—"

"Sophie?"

"Yeah?" I liked the way he said my first name.

"Just shut up and take it."

So I did and hugged it. "It's even softer than Ella. Thank you."

He just shrugged but I noticed he was smiling. I smiled back.

"Okay," I said. "Since we wasted a lot of time, we have to hurry up and get back."

"Fine," he said, following me out the doors. We made our way back to my old house and grabbed our capes. I noticed there was a guy sitting on his front porch across the street, and he'd see us teleport back.

"I'll distract him," Keefe said, walking over to the man. "Hey, you! Yeah, you in the ugly shirt. Yeah, I just said that, you gonna do something about it?"

I sighed, tuning him out and searching for a cliff. I found a big ditch farther off and Keefe came, grinning.

"He's gone. Man, humans get freaked out quickly."

I narrowed my eyes. "What did you…you know what? Never mind."

He just smirked. "So, you ready?"

"Yeah." I grabbed his hand and felt my heart flutter again as he intertwined our fingers. Damn it, what's happening to me?

I clutched the stuffed wolf in my other hand tightly so it didn't fall.

As we were about to jump, Keefe said,

"You know I'm going to tell Fitz about this, right?"


	7. Chapter 7: Sunset

SOPHIE POV

Keefe's so aggravating sometimes!

He got me detention and he doesn't even care. He thinks it's funny to see me mad. _Ugh!_ Why do I even hang out with him?

I was already having a bad day—Iggy ripped the ends of my cape, so I had to walk around in a partly shredded uniform, I got another F in my polyglot class, Bronte was especially rude in my inflicting class, and I dropped my last mallowmelt after saving the delicious snack all day. So when Keefe came to my locker firing all his jokes, I wasn't in the mood.

"Woah, Foster," he said, sliding up next to me as I was in my locker. "I felt your bad vibes all the way at Level 6."

I sighed. "I'm exactly having the best day."

"Hmm, well, I have something to cheer you up."

His slightly evil grin and the glint in his eyes made me sigh, knowing exactly what he wanted to do.

When he heard me sigh, he laughed. "You know me so well." He grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the halls (and I got that same, weird feeling in my stomach at his touch). "I have some gulon gas left over, so I was thinking we can put some in either Magnate Leo's or Dame Alina's office. You get the honors of choosing."

"Keefe, how do you even manage to get gulon gas?" I said with a roll of my eyes.

"I have my ways." He let go of my wrist (and that feeling went away, and I realized I liked it) and turned to me with a wide grin as we walked. "Who will be the victim of our prank of the day?"

"Our' prank?" I couldn't help but smile at how happy he looked at the idea. But I shook my head. "I'm not helping you get detention."

He let out a long sigh, his icy blue eyes rolling to the ceiling. "We don't get caught. Come on, Foster, live a little."

"I'd like to maintain my spree of no detentions, thanks."

He smirked. "You still will, and we're here."

"Where?" I looked to my left, and sure enough, we were in front of Dame Alina's office. Keefe went over to the door and picked expertly the lock with something that he kept in his pockets, and it made me wonder how many times he's done that.

"Keefe, I don't think—"

I was cut off by him quickly grabbing my hand dragging me in the office. The feeling in my stomach came back, and I couldn't help but secretly smile at how his hand felt in mine. Because…well, I actually don't have an excuse for that one. But that doesn't mean anything!

He let go—and I kind of felt disappointed—and he quickly pulled out a vial that was in one of his cape pockets.

"The gulon gas," he explained, grinning evilly.

I squinted at the vial and saw a green gas floating around. I shook my head and began to walk out of the office. "Well, you have fun."

"Wait," he said, turning to me. "I want to do this with you." I felt my heart rate increase. "Who else will teach you how to have real fun?" he gave me his crooked grin and I sighed, giving in.

"Fine," I mumbled. "But hurry!"

His grin got even bigger as he opened the vial and put it under Dame Alina's chair.

"When she sits, she'll be in for a big surprise!" he let out a gleeful laugh and pulled me out the office with him. "I can't wait until—"

"Until what, Mr. Sencen?"

I saw his eyes grow wide as mine did and I slowly turned around. Sure enough, Dame Alina was standing right behind us, arms folded, back straight, cape somehow swooshing around, and eyebrow raised. She glanced to her left and frowned. "Were you two in my office?"

"I—uh—no—we," I stuttered, but Keefe came to my rescue.

"No, Dame Alina, the door was already open. Foster and I were just leaving."

He narrowed her eyes in disbelief. "I never leave my office door open."

"I think one of the gnomes went in there to empty your trash," Keefe calmly explained.

She stared at him and back at me for a moment, and then swooshed past us and went into her office. "Very well. Miss. Foster and Mr. Sencen, I suggest you head on home."

I was frozen with fear because if she sat down, we were caught. So Keefe pulled me along with him. "Yes, Dame Alina, we were just doing that."

We only walked for a few seconds before we heard a scream of disgust. Dame Alina burst out her office with green gas floating around her. The terrible smell felt like it was melting my nostrils.

"You were in my office!" she yelled in outrage and disgust. "I had enough of your shenanigans, Mr. Sencen! Detention for _both_ of you!" she stomped to us, almost making me faint by the stench, and grabbed our capes and dragged us down the hall.

After a few minutes of stumbling down the halls, Dame Alina dragged us into the detention room and yelled, "Sit!"

I glared at Keefe. I knew I shouldn't have done this with him. Why do I always give in? Keefe just shrugged apologetically, taking a seat. I turned away angrily and sat at the seat that was the farthest away from his as possible and folded my arms. There goes my no detention spree.

"If I hear _one_ word from one of you, I will make you both sniff gulon gas for the rest of the hour!" in a huff, Dame Alina sat in the desk and sent piercing glares at both of us.

I shrunk down in my seat and sent a glare to Keefe. There goes my plan to go over Biana's today. She said Della was making more mallowmelt, and now it'll probably be gone by the time I got there. All thanks to _him_. Seriously, he was so aggravating sometimes.

After about 20 minutes of glaring at Keefe, I let out a sigh as low as possible. Thankfully, Dame Alina didn't hear. She was too busy trying to get the gas off her cape.

Keefe looked at me, but I immediately looked away from his (handsome) gaze and glared at the shelves next to me.

I was thinking of ways to get revenge on him when something hit my arm. I jumped of surprise and looked down. It was a crumbled up paper. I glanced up and saw Keefe mouth the words: "Read it."

I rolled my eyes, but silently picked up the paper. I did my best to uncrumble it without making a lot of noise and read the messy writing:

"You sure are putting the tension in de _tention._ "

I sighed, but tried to hide my smile behind my hair as I grabbed a pencil on the top of my desk and scribbling,

"The words aren't even spelled the same, genius."

I crumbled it up and threw it hard at him when Dame Alina wasn't looking. I watched him read it and saw a smirk form on his lips. It made a little anger wash out of me. A little. I saw him scribble something on it and then throw it back at me.

It read, "I know, that's what makes the joke even better."

I had to bite back my smile at his "logic."

I wrote, "No, it doesn't."

"I'm tired of writing," he wrote. "Let's just talk."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, if you wanna sniff gulon gas for the rest of the day. Seriously, where do you even find that stuff?"

I watched him smirk as he wrote. "That's for me to know, and you to never find out. Now, we have to get Lame Alina out of here so we can ditch this place!"

I sighed as I read his note. "We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you!"

"Oh, yeah." I watched him tap his pencil on his chin thoughtfully before smirking and writing down, "Why are TVs attracted to people?"

I blinked as I read his note. "What?"

"Because people turn them on!" he grinned his crooked grin to see my reaction. I didn't give him one.

I wrote, "No."

"Why didn't the skeleton go to the party?"

"Stop."

"Because he had no _body_ to go with!"

"Just stop."

"I tried to take a picture in fog, but I _mist!_ "

I had to admit, I bit the inside of my mouth to keep from smiling.

"That was really bad," I wrote.

"What did the buffalo say to his son when he dropped him off at Foxfire?" (A/N: there's no buffalos in the elvin world so just…pretend there are)

"No. Stop."

"Bison."

I broke out into a grin and hid behind my hair so Keefe didn't know I laughed at one of his corny jokes. He did, however, and gave me a huge grin. I couldn't help but grin back.

KEEFE POV

Okay, okay, so I did make Foster get detention. But this was the first time Dame Alina caught me putting gas in her office, so it's not really my fault. Besides, she doesn't look mad anymore.

It's just I was bored today. Fitz said no to pranking Alina because he had to study for a history test. I asked Biana because she's a vanisher, but she said no, too. So I asked Foster because…she was in a bad mood and I wanted to cheer her up. I honestly felt a little bad because she was mad at me, but I couldn't stay guilty because she was scrunching up her nose again in anger! It's…kind of cute.

After Alina dragged us into the detention room I felt waves of anger coming off Foster, so I started writing to her to cheer her up. She thinks I don't know when she smiles or laughs, but I can feel her mood get happier when she does. I watched her read my jokes on the notes, and my chest tightened every time she grinned or her brown eyes lit up.

I was in the middle of writing another note when Dame Alina said,

"Detention is over. Out!" she glared at me before swooshing away, the stench following her.

I raised my eyebrows. It's over already? It only felt like 5 minutes! I had to admit, Foster made detention fun. Maybe I should have her do more pranks with me…

"Finally!" Foster said, getting up and sending me a glare before walking out the room. I jumped up and followed her.

"So," I said, catching up to her. "I cheered you up, huh?"

She scoffed, her brown eyes narrowed. "No—you didn't."

"But you laughed!"

"I did not! Those were the corniest jokes I've ever heard."

"Even the bison one?" I cheekily grinned.

I saw the corners of her lips twitch into a smile. She didn't say anything, though.

We walked out the doors in a comfortable silence, heading to Everglen. The guilt returned after a few moments of silence so I cleared my throat, running my fingers through my hair.

"Uh, sorry about…you know, getting you detention…" I said.

She gave me a side ways glance before shrugging. "It's okay. I just hope the mallowmelt isn't gone before we get there."

She pouted, sticking her bottom lip out a little and her brown eyes looked down. Oh my God, it was cute. I felt my face warm at the thought.

 _How could I think Foster is cute? Ugh!_

But as I looked at her again, I noticed I found her eyes really pretty. I mean, it was the first time I saw anyone with brown eyes. The color was much softer than blue eyes.

"What are you looking at?"

I was snapped out of my thoughts and then noticed I was staring at her. God, Keefe, you're such an idiot! My face got hot and I looked away, running my hand through my hair again.

"I'm just thinking about how I'm going to have the last mallowmelt." I gave her my smirk.

She pursed her lips, "Oh, no you're not!"

"Oh, really? You gonna stop me?"

"Yeah, I am." She pushed me and I stumbled back in surprise, my chest tingling where she just touched me. That was new.

Foster started running, laughing at me. I regained my composure and grinned, running after her. I quickly caught up with her and tripped her. She fell, and I looked back to see if she was okay. She was—she quickly got up and ran after me. I laughed.

I was getting tired so I slowed down a little and started to turn around to see where Foster was before something hit me from behind.

"Ah!" I said, stumbling forward. I heard hard breathing in my ear and I realized Foster jumped on me. I ignored my heart rate increasing as she wrapped her arms around my neck.

"You aren't going anywhere, now!" she yelled right in my ear. I cringed.

"Oh, yeah?" I wrapped my arms around her legs, my heart beating even faster. Because…I was tired. Yeah.

After she was in piggy back ride position, I started running, purposely making the ride extremely bumpy for her. I laughed as she screamed, trying to get off but I kept running. Finally, I stopped and she quickly jumped off, grabbed my legs, and tripped me. I yelled in surprise as I fell forward into the grass. I heard her laugh as I rolled to my back, wincing.

"Nice one, Foster." I panted, looking up at her from my laying position. She was on her hands and knees, grinning triumphantly at me. I smiled despite myself.

She crawled next to me and lay down on her back as well. "Tired," she explained, still breathing heavily.

I nodded, swallowing nervously as our arms brushed up against each other. We laid in silence for a few moments, looking at the clouds.

"That looks like Ella!" Foster suddenly said, pointing up to a cloud.

I squinted at the cloud she was pointing at, vaguely remembering her pink stuffed animal she had on her bed. "It looks like a giant imp," I said.

"What? No, it doesn't."

"Yeah, it does. See?" I pointed to the cloud as well. "That's its wings."

She frowned. "Keefe, that's the legs."

I frowned as well. "Where do you see legs? That's clearly the wings."

"No, see?" she scooted closer, pointing up. Our arms were completely pressed together now. I ignored some weird feeling in my stomach as I followed her finger. "The head's right there, so how can the wings be there?" she said.

"Because that's the tail, not the head!" Seriously, what is this girl looking at?

"What? How can the tail be bigger than the head?"

"I don't know, ask the cloud!"

"Yes, because I can talk to a cloud."

"Hey, don't get all sarcastic with me 'cause you can't read clouds like I can."

"I don't know what cloud you're 'reading' because it's not an imp."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not."

I rolled my eyes, looking at the cloud again. "Oh, look, it moved."

"Oh, yeah." Foster said, looking up as well. She shrugged, bumping my shoulder with hers. My heart rate increased again for some reason. "Eh, who cares what is was? It's gone, now."

"Yeah."

We sat in another silence until Foster suddenly said,

"Do you want to watch the sunset?"

I blinked. "Huh?"

"The sunset. The sun's going down and I, I don't know," she looked down nervously, playing with the ends of her cape. "I wanted to watch it. I've never seen it before—you probably have, though. You don't have to watch it, you can leave. I just wanted to know if you wanted to watch it with me. Because I—"

"Sophie?" She's so cute when she rants.

She took a breath. "Yeah?" she said quietly.

"Just shut up and watch." That was my way of saying "Of course I'll watch the sunset with you." I wondered if she knew that.

I watched the corners of her mouth twist up into a smile as she glanced at our arms. I did, too. They were still pressed up against each other. And my stomach still felt weird.

"Okay," she said.

Yeah. She knew.

* * *

 **A/N:** Sorry for the long wait, guys, but I couldn't use the laptop over the weekend. But as usual, I hope you enjoyed. You can let me know by following, faving, and/or reviewing. :)

And Guest, I saw your review asking for more Keefe POVs. I sure will write more Keefe POVs!


	8. Chapter 8: Bliss

**SOPHIE POV**

"What have I done?" I moaned, putting my hands in my face. "I don't deserve to live."

Biana sighed, rubbing my back affectionately. "Sophie, you're being dramatic now."

I took my hands off my face to say, "Am I?" before putting them back.

"Yes, you are. Look, he'll forgive you."

"No, he won't. And I don't blame him. He probably hates me—I hate me!" I choked back a sob.

"He doesn't hate you. He likes you."

I blinked. He likes me? He _likes_ me? I scoffed at myself for thinking of something so ridiculous. Of course he doesn't _like_ me like that. He probably doesn't even like me as a friend anymore. I sighed, rubbing my forehead until it hurt.

"Just…give him some time," Biana told me. "When he and Fitz got into a fight, they gave each other space and then went back to being friends in a matter of a day."

"A day? Biana, it's been 3 days."

She sighed. "I know. But trust me, he'll forgive you."

"Sure he will," I mumbled to myself.

"Come on, let's go have some mallowmelt," Biana said, getting up and trying to pull me up as well.

I shook my head. "I don't deserve mallowmelt. You go, though."

Biana sighed, realizing there was nothing she could say to change my mind before leaving. I lay back on the floor, not deserving to lie in my bed, as I replayed the memory in my head.

* * *

" _God, Keefe, you're so damn aggravating!" I yelled, throwing my hands in the air in exasperation. "You can't admit that you were wrong for once in your life!"_

" _You can't shut up for once in your life!" he yelled back, his icy blue eyes icier than ever as he narrowed them at me._

 _I growled, my hands curling into fits. Why on earth did I EVER hang out with this annoying boy! Seriously, did he enjoy getting on my nerves? Is that what he looks forward to every morning? Ugh! He is so aggravating it hurts._

" _Um, guys?" Fitz said weakly from the side. "Maybe you should—"_

" _Seriously, all you do is complain about one little thing I did," Keefe continued, not caring that he interrupted Fitz. "Just shut up!"_

" _You shut up!" I spat, stalking closer to him. Dammit, I hated that he was taller than me. I was straining my neck to get to his level, but he was still inches taller. "And it's not one_ little _thing," I continued. " It's one BIG thing!"_

" _Okay, just take a deep breath," Biana tried, cowering next to Fitz. "Just count to ten and—"_

" _Are you_ kidding _me? It was a freaking joke!" he rolled his eyes in annoyance. "You're being dramatic!"_

" _You could have gotten hurt!" Great, my voice cracked._

 _Okay, so I was mad and maybe a little worried about Keefe. But, seriously, he could have gotten hurt or worse. If he did…I honestly don't know what I would have done._

" _Yeah?" he said coldly. "Well, you're not my mom, okay? So stop acting like it."_

" _I'm not acting like your mother, I'm acting like a civilized person who actually has some sense!" I stalked even closer to him, standing on my toes. And I was still a lot shorter than him._

 _We were so close I could see every detail in his icy blue eyes. He had them narrowed, his dark eyebrows scrunched together, nostrils flared, and his jaw was clenched angrily. If I wasn't so mad, I would have found that even more attractive than I already did. Dammit, he was hot._

" _Maybe we should go?" Biana said weakly._

 _Fitz shook his head. "This could get bad. We should—"_

" _I didn't even get hurt or hurt anyone else, who what's wrong with you?" Keefe interrupted again. "Why the hell do you even care?"_

" _You could have_ died, _Keefe, okay?" I looked away, glaring at the floor. "You're such an idiot!" I'm not sure if I said that because of what he did or that he didn't know that I cared about him—like a friend, of course._

" _Clearly_ you're _the idiot because you're yelling at me about something that. Didn't. Happen!"_

" _How about we just—"_

 _I barely registered Fitz's words as I yelled, "Oh, so I'm an idiot because I don't want you hurt? Well,_ excuse _me for not wanting something bad to happen to my friend."_

" _But I'm_ not _hurt. Do you not understand that? God, you're so annoying!"_

 _I scoffed. "Your parents probably deal with this crap all the time. Hell, this is probably why you're such a disappointment to your…"_

 _I gasped, slapping a hand to my mouth. But it was too late. Keefe was right—I am an idiot._

 _The room immediately went deadly silent. It was so silent it was loud. Fitz and Biana were gasping at me in shock. I looked at Keefe. Curse my photographic memory because I knew I was going to never forget his face. There was shock, but mostly hurt. His mouth opened a little and his eyebrows went up, blinking at me in surprise. And then the shock was replaced with anger._

" _To my what? Parents? Go ahead and say it," he said in a low voice, taking a step back. And then another. Suddenly, he was so far away._

 _I took a step forward, but he took another step back. "No, Keefe, I—"_

" _Just…stop." The hurt was back. "Wow. Thanks, Sophie." And then he walked out the room, slamming the door behind him._

 _I don't know how long I stared at the spot he was at. But I know Fitz left to see if his best friend was okay. I also know Biana wanted to leave as well, but she stayed with me. Because she's a good friend._

 _Unlike me._

" _I'm sorry," I whispered to the spot where Keefe had once been._

* * *

I felt so guilty and regretful I couldn't sleep. I laid in bed for 3 nights, thinking about what I've done. Keefe told me his family problems because he trusted me. I know he didn't tell anyone besides Fitz, Biana, and I. And I used what he trusted me with and threw it back in his face. And then stomped on it.

I tried apologizing. I couldn't find Keefe anywhere at Foxfire, and I was greeted with empty space instead of him as I left my classes. There was no one walking with me as I headed home. I went to his house about 4 times, but he wouldn't open his door when I knocked on it. He wasn't at Everglen when I went. He knew I would be there and didn't go, so Fitz went over to Keefe's instead.

I have looked at Keefe's hurt face over in over in my mind and mentally beat myself up about it. Keefe may forgive me, but that doesn't mean I'll forgive myself.

"Idiot," I muttered to myself. Keefe was right—I was acting ridiculous. No one got hurt, so I could have left it alone and went on with my own business. But no. I just had to get angry. I was just so mad because of how stupid he was acting. Did he not realize he wouldn't be affecting himself if he got hurt, but the people who cared about him? It doesn't matter anymore.

I had to see him. I wanted to apologize, and I didn't care if he didn't forgive me. I just wanted to let him know I was sorry. I quickly put on my boots and slipped out the doors of Everglen while Biana and Fitz were distracted. I just have to tell him.

 **KEEFE POV**

I yawned, pulling off my shirt and climbing into bed even though it was only 9. I didn't care, I was tired. And bored. I didn't feel like reading or drawing, and Fitz had left after spending the day here. His house is way more fun. But I wasn't there because I knew Foster would be there. And I kind of didn't want to see her.

The thing was, I never told her my parents thought I was a disappointment. Yeah, I told her how bad they could be but never said they thought of me that way. That could only mean that Foster thinks I'm a disappointment. I care what she thinks of me.

 _Wait, no I don't!_ I thought to myself. _Ugh, stop it Keefe! Don't even think about her._

I turned over to my other side and stared out my window. Hmm, full moon tonight. It's pretty big….Foster's eyes are big…and brown…and soft…

 _Stop it!_

I shook my head, turning away from the window. Dammit, I missed her. Okay, I admitted it. I haven't seen her for three days. I know she came to my house a few times, but I wasn't ready to see her yet. She's just so damn dramatic. How was I supposed to know that gulon gas is extremely flammable? So I might've burned a desk and got suspended from Foxfire for four days. No one was hurt. I wasn't hurt. She made a huge deal out of nothing. She's so annoying sometimes.

I heard a few soft taps from across the room. I glanced up, listening for more sounds. After a moment of silence, I shrugged and lay back down. Until I heard it again.

"Is someone knocking?" I said, hoping it wouldn't be my mom—or worse, my father.

"Yeah," a muffled response came. "It's me."

I instantly recognized that voice. It belonged to no one other than Sophie Foster. But what was she even doing here at this time?

"You don't have to open the door, I know you don't want to see me," she continued, sounding even more muffled. "And I don't blame you! I just…wanted to say I'm sorry. For…you know, what I said. And did. Wait, I didn't do anything…Did I?" she sighed angrily at herself. "Of course I did something…anyway, I'm sorry for what I said. You're right, I am stupid."

She was doing another one of her famous rants. I couldn't help but smile. She's so cute. I sighed to myself. I can't stay mad at her no matter how hard I try and I don't know why. So I got out off bed as she continued to ramble on. I had a half a mind to leave her there to talk to herself but I opened the door.

"Oh!" she said in surprise, jumping slightly and then her head down again.

I squinted down and studied her. Her big, brown eyes now had dark circles under them, her hair was in a sloppy ponytail, and her tunic was wrinkled. I watched her nervously play with the hem of her clothes as she looked down. I also felt huge waves of guilt radiating off of her.

"You look terrible," I finally said, but not to be mean.

She nervously laughed as she self-consciously touched her hair. "Yeah…" When she looked up, I felt her mood change and her face turned a dark shade of pink. What is she blushing about?

Oh.

I was still shirtless. I totally forgot. But I couldn't help but smirk at the way she was ogling me. Looks like working out with Fitz paid off.

"See something, Foster?" I smirked, crossing my arms and purposely flexing my biceps. I felt my smirk grow wider as she turned a deeper shade of pink as her giddy mood exploded.

She finally cleared her throat and tarred her eyes off of me and looked back at the floor. I grabbed a random shirt on my floor and pulled it on.

"I'm sorry!" she blurted out, looking at me in the eyes. "I didn't mean what I said, and it wasn't right for me to take something you trusted me with and throw it back in your face. I'm so sorry, Keefe. You don't have to forgive me right away, but I just…I'm sorry," she said again, searching my face.

I let out a sigh. I wasn't mad anymore, and I forgive her. I really did. So I said, "Relax, Foster, you don't have to beat yourself up about it."

Her brown eyes grew wide. "Does that mean you forgive me?"

"Yeah, it does." I gave her a smile for good measure.

Instantly, she drowned me with her happy emotions and she broke out into a huge grin. "Thank you!"

I looked away. "You don't have to—agh!"

I was stopped when Foster tackled me with a hug. My eyes popped open as I registered the thought. Sophie Foster is _hugging_ me? For some reason, I felt like I didn't know how to breathe anymore. Her arms wrapped around my neck even tighter as I stood there stupidly with my arms dangling at my sides.

Finally, I hugged her back, my heart pounding so loud I was pretty sure she could hear it as she rested her head on my chest. I finally relaxed and rested my chin on the top of her head. She smelled like vanilla and some other delicious spice I couldn't find a name for. But all I knew was, I didn't want this to stop. It felt like I was in some kind of bliss. Because...honestly, I don't have an excuse for that one. But that doesn't mean I like her or anything! Ugh!

I don't know if I imagined it or not, but at some point I'm pretty sure I heard the muffled words "I missed you" come out of Foster's mouth. I wasn't really sure how to respond to that, but I heard a couple of sniffs.

I grinned. "Are you crying?"

Sniff. " _No!_ "

Yeah, Foster. I missed you too.

* * *

 **A/N: lalalalalalaaaa. Mmm, yes, hugs. Which means we're getting closer to…well, I bet you can guess what ;P**

 **Reviews give me life, follows give me creativity, and favs give me inspiration. Just sayin.**


	9. Chapter 9: Heartbeat

SOPHIE POV

I grabbed my towel, humming as I wrapped it around my body. I was always in a good mood after I take a shower. When I was done wrapping the towel, I grabbed my brush and brushed my wet hair. Hmm, maybe I should cut it? My hair is down to my waist and it takes forever to brush through. I shrugged, walking out my bathroom, humming again while brushing my hair. But then I looked up.

"AAHH!" I screamed, dropping my brush on the floor.

There, in my room, was Keefe Sencen. He lazily sprawled out on my bed, his arm and legs hanging off the sides. His blond hair was as messy as ever and he was throwing Ella and the stuffed wolf he got me, Alle, up into the air and catching them at the same time.

"Your bed is so much more comfortable than mine," his deep voice drawled, still looking at the ceiling as he flung Ella in the air.

I clutched my towel tighter and bent down to grab my brush. "W-what are you doing here?" I screeched, feeling like I was exposed or something.

He just shrugged, catching Alle in mid air. "I was bored. Fitz is doing telepathy training with Alden, and Biana is working on her vanishing with Della, so I came here." He threw one of the stuffed animals particularly hard and it bounced off the ceiling with a thud. I sighed. "Oh, and your mom let me in, by the way," he added.

Keefe then looked down at me for the first time and then his eyes grew wide. I guess he didn't know I was in the shower, or in just a towel for that matter. I watched as his cheeks turned a deep shade of red and he ran his fingers through his hair nervously. I couldn't help but secretly grin at his reaction.

"I didn't know you were in the shower," he mumbled, suddenly very interested in the floor.

"Yeah, and I need to get dressed, so…" I motioned with my arm for him to get out of my room, pulling the towel up higher.

He lifted his head up again and gave me his smirk, a weird glint in his eyes. He layed back in my bed and put his hands behind his head. His gaze lowered until it reached my legs, unconsciously ogling it. "Don't mind me—carry on."

The other half of his lips curled up as he saw my face redden.

"I—you—but…" I stuttered because he was implying he wanted to watch me get dressed. He knew was joking, but I still felt my stomach flip at the thought.

"Get out!" I finally said.

He laughed, jumping up and dodging the brush I threw at him and left the room.

I got dressed and finished brushing my hair before opening the door. Keefe was leaning against the frame, looking bored. When he saw me, he shoved his way into my room before actually being invited in. I rolled my eyes.

"It's about time!" he said, flopping back on my bed. "And I was serious about your bed being softer than mine. Why is that?" he squinted at my blankets.

"How am I supposed to know?" I asked, sitting next to him.

"So you kept the animal I got you?" he asked, looking at me with a slight smile.

I looked down at my stuffed wolf, which was now on the edge of my bed. I placed him in his rightful spot—in between my pillows—and patted its head.

"Yup," I answered. "His name is Alle. Get it? Cause that's Ella spelled backwards?"

He raised an amused brow as I grinned stupidly.

"So, what should we do today?" Keefe said, getting more comfortable on my bed. I sighed in annoyance when he made a few pillows topple over.

"You're messing up my bed."

He just waved me off. "Hmm…I know! We should see where Dame Alina lives, then put effluxers and gulon gas in her room!"

I shook my head. "How are we possibly going to find out where she lives?"

He tapped his chin thoughtfully, and then his eyes lit up from an idea. "Oh, I know!"

He jumped up, sending Ella and a few more pillows toppling to the floor. I sighed again.

"Keefe, we're not going to find out where Dame Alina lives. At least _I'm_ not."

He shook his head, looking excited. "No, I want to show you something."

I raised a brow in suspicion. "Will we get in trouble?"

"Just come on!" he grabbed my hand (I ignored the tingling weird stuff I felt at his touch) and dragged me out the door. And he didn't even answer my question.

KEEFE POV

"Where are we going?" Foster whined for the 10th time.

I ignored her because I already told her she'll see when we get there.

I wasn't really sure why I was showing her this because I haven't told anybody I found it yet. But I was bored. I went over to Foster's because Fitz and Biana were busy and my father was starting his usual "not living up to my potential" speech so I had to get out of there. So I went to Havenfield. Edaline let me in, having some sort of odd smile when I told her I was looking for Foster. I went to her room and saw the bathroom light was on, so I thought she was just using it real quick.

But she walked out in a towel. She was _glistening_ as she came out, brushing her hair. Did she always have such long hair? The more I thought about it, yeah, she did. But I never really paid attention because she usually had it in a ponytail or hid it under her cape. She should leave it out more because she looks even more beautiful. And did she always have such nice legs?

 _Shut up, Keefe, you sound like a perv_.

"Where are we going?" Foster whined again, trailing behind me. I turned to tell her how annoying she was being. She pouted, sticking her bottom lip out and lifting her eyebrows. Oh my God, it was cute.

"We're here," I said, stopping.

"Finally!" she said, coming up to stand next to me. "What is it?"

I took her to the field that I go to a lot, and I found out she goes there, too. But a couple of months ago I found a secret spot that was pretty awesome but I didn't tell anyone. I'm not sure why I was showing her this.

"This is an awesome hideout," I explained, stepping forward and pushing branches out of the way.

"How'd you even come across this?" she asked, peering suspiciously at the tree.

I came across it when my parents got me angry again, and I kicked the tree and then found it. I didn't tell her that, though. Instead I motioned for her to follow and shoved my way through the branches.

I heard her gasp when we got there. The secret field wasn't that big, but it beautiful. There was a huge rock in the center, with flowers I've never seen before until I found this place, a small waterfall and water surrounding it, and a rainbow that seemed to never go away.

I watched Foster gaze at the place in awe. "This is…"

I smiled because that was my same reaction. "Yeah."

"Look at the waterfall!" she said, walking towards it. I followed her. She reached out and touched the water, her brown eyes wide.

"It's warm," she noted, putting her arm in it.

That suddenly gave me an idea. She'll probably yell at me but who cares? I smirked as I stepped forward and pushed her gently into the water. She clumsily fell in, getting drenched by the fall. I laughed at her face.

"Keefe!" she spluttered angrily, trying to stand up but failing and falling back in.

"I'm sorry," I said between breaths, holding my stomach. "But that was too funny!"

"Ugh!" she finally stood up and stalked toward me angrily. Her nose was scrunched and her hair was dripping and I couldn't help but find it adorable.

She reached out and grabbed my shirt suddenly and I gasped out of surprise. Then she pushed me into the water. The last thing I saw was her laughing face as I fell in. She was right—the water was warm. I swam up and pulled her in again and we wrestled in the water, me winning of course.

After an hour of playing, we got out the water, dripping wet.

"That probably wasn't a good idea," I said, wringing out my shirt.

Foster scoffed, wringing out her hair. "No kidding. You should have thought of that when you pushed me in!" but she was grinning.

I smirked as another idea came to me. After she was done wringing out her clothes, I shook my hair and sent water flying on her, making her went again. Instantly she scrunched up her nose in anger as I laughed.

"You're so annoying!" she said, flinging grass at me. She started wringing herself out again while sending me countless glares. I grinned at her each time. I loved messing with her.

"Do you wanna climb that rock?" I asked, pointing to the giant boulder.

She raised a brow. "And die? Thanks, but I think I'll pass."

I laughed. "You're so dramatic, it's just a rock."

"Um, it's a _giant_ rock and we could hurt ourselves if we fall off."

"Oh, live a little, Foster."

I made my way to it as she mumbled incoherent words, but she still followed.

"It's easy to climb," I told her, beginning to climb up. When I got to the top, Foster was still struggling at the bottom. I smiled as she set her jaw in determination.

"Give me your hand," I told her, extending my arm down. She took it (and then some weird tingly feeling happened), and I pulled her up with ease.

"See?" I said as she settled down next to me. "It's cool up here."

I looked at her (and I was suddenly aware of our close proximity) and she rolled her eyes but had a small smile on her face.

"Yeah, yeah."

I watched her as she swung her legs back and forth.

"Why'd you show me this place?" she suddenly asked, turning to me with big, questioning eyes.

I looked away, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed. "I don't know." I shrugged, feeling my shoulder bump hers as I did. I cleared my throat. "I was bored."

"Well…thanks for showing me."

I bit the insides of my mouth to keep from grinning like an idiot. Instead I said, "You should be thanking me for pushing you into the water."

I grinned as she sighed irritably.

"How do you get off this rock, by the way?" she asked.

"I usually jump."

She raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"It's true, look." I slid down and landed on my feet smoothly. She peered down at me from the top of the rock, biting her lip nervously.

"Fine," I said, knowing she was nervous. "Just…try to step down then?"

She scoffed. "I can jump."

I shrugged, looking at the waterfall as I waited for her to come down. I jumped when I heard a yell, and I felt pain radiating off of her immediately. I turned to her and she was clenching her teeth from pain and anger as she held her ankle. The pain was seriously intense. Crap.

"Woah, Foster, are you okay?" I said, going to her side quickly.

"I'm fine. Stupid rock," she snapped, glaring at it.

"Can you stand up?" I asked.

"Yeah…" she clumsily stood up, gripping the rock for dear life. Then I felt another blast of pain and she fell. It was times like this I was thankful for my quick reflexes. I caught her before she hit the ground, pushing away that feeling again.

I glanced at her ankle that was now swelling and turning a shade of purple. I grimaced. "Do you think it's broken?"

"I don't know!" I noticed a stray tear fall from her eye, and then another. I realized this was the first time I've seen her cry, and I didn't like it.

"Hey—it's okay," I told her gently as more tears trailed down her cheeks. "I got you."

She didn't say anything else as I effortlessly scooped her up and held her bridal style, ignoring that feeling I got again. I began walking, heading toward the healing center. The pain radiating off of her wasn't as intense anymore as she rested her head on my chest.

SOPHIE POV

Stupid ankle.

Why did I have to be made with such clumsiness? As I tried to stick the landing from the rock as effortlessly as Keefe, but failed miserably. I landed right on my ankle. I felt stupid and embarrassed, and the pain was so intense I cried.

Until Keefe said, "I got you."

I'm pretty sure I stopped breathing after he said that. Suddenly, I forgot about the pain for a moment after he said those words and after he picked me up. I was surprised at how strong he was, the way he picked me up with so much ease. I just felt…I don't know, safe in his arms. I repeated his words in my head as I rested my head on his chest. I listened to his heartbeat and found it the most soothing thing in the world. I instantly relaxed, suddenly feeling tired, and closed my eyes.

* * *

Hours later, after having Elwin heal my ankle and being crushed by my worried parents, I was back at my house. My ankle still hurt a little, so I had to limp but other than that it was fine. I smiled as I saw the pillows still on the floor, reminding me he was here earlier.

I got ready for bed (still replaying him saying "I got you" over and over in my mind for some reason) and tried to sleep. I had to admit—I liked falling asleep to the sound of Keefe's heartbeat much better. But I slowly drifted off into sleep—until I heard a thud on my window.

I jumped a foot into the air and glanced at my window. What the hell?

I heard it again, and realized someone was throwing rocks at it. Cautiously, clutching Ella, I went to the window and peered out. I saw Keefe, getting ready to throw another rock. I ignored my increasing heart rate when I saw he was here.

I opened the window and whisper yelled, "Are you throwing rocks at me?" My parents were on the 3rd floor above me, sleeping, but I didn't want to take any chances and wake them up.

Keefe grinned sheepishly, dropping the rocks from his hands. "Maybe?"

I smiled, telling him to go to the front door. I silently limped down stairs and opened the door. Keefe stood there with his hands shoved in his pockets. As I closed the door after he walked in, I wondered what I possibly looked like.

"Your parents let you have friends over at this time?" he asked.

"Uh…no."

He slowly grinned that crooked grin of his (and I ignored the flutter of my heart) and said, "Sneaking friends into the house in the middle of the night? Nice, Foster. I think I really am rubbing off on you."

"What, did you come here to scare me or something?" I said cheekily, shifting my feet. My ankle was starting to hurt again.

He laughed despite himself (a sound that I've grown to enjoy). "So, um, how's your ankle?"

I shrugged. "It's almost healed, it just hurts if I stand too long."

He frowned, and I could have sworn I saw a look of concern in his voice. "Then why are you standing on it?"

"Because someone decided to come to my house in the middle of the night."

He grinned sheepishly again. "Yeah, I just…wanted to see if you were okay." He turned a light shade of pink and quickly added, "Your ankle, I mean."

I inwardly smiled. Keefe cares about me.

"I'm fine," I promised. "It just…"

He frowned again. "It just what?"

"Kind of hurts still? Only a little, though." I didn't want him to feel bad because he's, technically, why I was even standing on it at this time. He didn't say anything, only kept looking at me.

"But it doesn't hurt a lot," I rambled on, feeling kind of nervous under his intense gaze for some reason. "Not as much as before, anyway. I can still—oh!"

In a swift movement, Keefe had scooped me up again. I felt my heart pound in my chest as I felt his arms wrap around me.

"What are you doing?" I asked breathlessly.

"Foster, I can feel your pain. You shouldn't be on your ankle while it's healing."

I didn't say anything (probably because I lost my breath again) so he carried me up the stairs. I rested my head on his chest again with a sigh, listening to his rhythmic heartbeat. It was so soothing I suddenly grew tired again and closed my eyes.

The way back to my room seemed way to short all of the sudden, and Keefe gently laid me on my bed. The warmth from his body was replaced with air that suddenly felt cold. A soft thud made me open my eyes, and I peered curiously at Keefe who was stifling a laugh.

"Woops. I accidentally stepped on one of your pillows."

I looked down at the pillow that now had a shoe imprint on it and let out a sigh.

"You really shouldn't leave your pillows on the floor, Foster."

"Hey—you're the one who made it fall!

He tsked. "And who's room is this?"

"That's beside the point!"

"No it's not. I accidentally dropped it hours ago. You should have picked it up already."

"I wouldn't have to pick it up if you hadn't dropped it in the first place when you barged in my room!"

"Hey—I was invited in!"

"Not by me!"

"No, but I was invited in by your mom. She _did_ say to 'make yourself at home,' so I did."

"I'm pretty sure she didn't mean lounge on my bed and mess it up," I said with a roll of my eyes.

"It's gonna get messed up anyway so who cares?"

"I do! I'm sorry I don't having my room a pigsty unlike you."

"My room is not a pigsty! You're the one who has pillows on the floor!"

I sighed. So much for soothing.

* * *

 **And remember guys: Reviews give me life, favs give me creativity and follows give me inspiration. Just sayin.**


	10. Chapter 10: Drawn

SOPHIE POV

"So, how's your boyfriend?"

I stopped eating my breakfast and my dad stopped eating his, and we both looked at my mother. When we were done choking, we spoke at the same time.

"My _what_?"

"Her _what_?"

My mom just laughed. "You know, Keefe Sencen?"

I frowned. "He is _not_ my boyfriend, Mom. Are you _trying_ to make me puke this early in the morning?"

"But you guys do hang out a lot," my mom pointed out, ignoring my last comment.

My dad grumbled something inaudible before I answered, "Yes, because we're goodfriends."

"Hmm, well, I want to properly meet him."

I frowned even deeper. "Why?"

"Because _I_ never have," my dad cut in. "And I want to meet this Sencen boy."

I looked at both of my parents and realized they weren't going to drop this, so I just sighed.

My mom smiled. "Good. Invite him over for dinner tonight."

And that's how it happened.

Seriously, how could anyone see Keefe and I together? I mean, we're so different—and not to mention he's so aggravating. But I still went to ask him to eat dinner with us at the end of the day at Foxfire. I didn't have a telepathy class, so I was let out early. I searched for Keefe through the halls, and found him—to my surprise—in the library. I had just happened to glance through the window, and there he was, alone and at a table. He had a book open and it looked like he was writing something on another piece of paper. I felt my heart beat faster than normal as I saw him. Huh. That was new.

I opened the door, suddenly feeling nervous (and not because he looked kind of cute the way his tongue stuck out in concentration and his brows furrowed) as I walked toward him. Would if he thinks I'm inviting him over because I like him, or think we're dating or something crazy like that? Or would if he doesn't even _want_ to go and shuts me down?

I took a breath, shaking my ridiculous worries, and kept walking toward him.

Until I tripped on the leg of a chair.

And stumbled into the table he was at.

And fell on him.

And knocked down water that was on the table onto him in the process.

I groaned, inwardly cursing my clumsiness until I heard a deep voice.

"You know, Foster, there are better ways to say hi."

I jumped, forgetting I was sprawled on Keefe. I fell on my knees right at the foot of his chair, and landed on his legs. I looked up at him and he had some water on his shirt, but he was grinning that crooked grin of his. There was some glint in his eyes as he wiggled his eyebrows. That's when I looked down, and saw I was right near his crotch.

He laughed as I scrambled up, feeling my face get hot. "Oh, grow up!"

He stopped grinning only to smirk. "Oh, I _did_ grow up…"

I felt my face get even hotter. "You're unbelievable." And before he could respond, I changed the subject and sat down next to him. "I've never seen you in a library before."

"Yeah, well, it's the only place here that's peaceful—until you came stumbling in and spilled water on me."

I grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that…"

He shrugged. "So, care to tell me why you were so nervous? Seriously, I could feel your nerves before you even came in."

"Wait, you knew I was here before I…you know, tripped?"

"Yeah. And you didn't _trip._ You fell like a flailing banshee."

I rolled my eyes. "And you just sat there and watched?"

"Of course I did, it was hilarious. It's times like these where I'm thankful for photographic memory." He laughed, probably looking back at the memory.

I sighed, but then remembered why I was there. I swallowed.

"Aaaand the nervous is back." He stopped smiling. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Um, so…do you want to come over my house for dinner tonight? My parents want to meet you."

I watched him frown slightly. "Why do they want to meet me?"

I decided not to tell him it was because my mom seems to think we're dating. "I guess my parents like to meet all of my friends."

"A free meal? I can't say no to that!" he stood up and gathered his books.

I frowned, looking up at him. "Where are you going?"

"I kind of have a shirt to change."

"Oh…yeah, sorry."

He waved me off. "It's cool. You _did_ want to—"

"You know what? I'm glad you got water spilled on you."

He smirked. "Or are you just glad you got to get a closer view of my—"

" _Five,_ Keefe. Dinner will be done at 5."

"So I'll be there by six."

I frowned. "No, I said five."

"I know, but us Sencens have a thing called being fashionably late."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course you do."

"And of course you have a thing called trying to give—"

I sighed.

* * *

I honestly did expect Keefe to come "fashionably late," but he came right on time. There was a knock on the door at five, and my dad jumped up.

"I'll get it!"

My mom smiled, setting down the food on the table. "I hope Keefe's ready to get interrogated."

I groaned, walking to the door. Sure enough, my dad was scratching his chin thoughtfully as he looked at Keefe for approval. Keefe looked extremely uncomfortable and was starring at the floor, hands shoved in pockets.

"Dad," I groaned, trying to pull him away. "The table is set."

He grunted. "Hmm. He's dressed nice, but his hair…"

Keefe snapped his head up. "Hey! My hair is awesome!"

My dad gave a weary sigh and went to the kitchen. I snickered and turned to Keefe. "Sorry about that."

"Yeah. People always think the incredibly good looking guys are a threat." He gave me his confident smirk.

I snorted. "Then my dad has nothing to worry about."

I laughed when he looked genuinely offended. But it was only then when I realized he dressed…nice. Usually he'd wear wrinkled tunics, inside-out capes (that Dame Alina always had to yell at him about), and lose pants. Now he was wearing fitted pants and a shirt that looked like it was made from expensive fabric. Not to mention the fitted shirt also showed off some pretty broad shoulders and nice arms. The only thing that remained the same was his hair. It was still perfectly styled to look messy, but he still looked _good_. I always wondered how he managed to get it to look like that. I also wondered how soft it would feel if I touched it, because it sure looked soft and—

"Not that I'm not flattered—or used to it—but I'm pretty hungry, so if you could stop ogling me…"

I felt my face get hot. Dammit, Sophie! "I was not!" I said too loudly.

He smirked. "Uh huh. Well, lead the way, Foster. I'm hungry here."

I quickly walked to the dinning room, face still hot, and took a seat. The conversations were casual and short because everyone was too busy eating my mom's delicious food. Halfway through my food, I happened to glance at Keefe—who was practically inhaling his 2nd serving of food.

"You eat like a pig," I said, grimacing.

He grinned, chewed up food still in his teeth. "Yeah? Well I bet this 'pig' can finish my _second_ plate before you can finish your first."

"Oh, it is so on!"

As I was about to begin eating, I caught my mom glance knowingly at my dad. He glanced back at her and gave a knowing smile back.

I frowned. What was that about?

* * *

After dinner (Keefe winning the bet), I expected Keefe had to leave but my mom said,

"Keefe, would you like to hear some stories of Sophie?"

I groaned as Keefe slowly turned to me with that crooked (cute) grin of his. "Oh, absolutely."

"Mom," I groaned.

She smiled, a slight glint in her eye. "Sophie, it's my job to embarrass you whenever you have any friends over. Now, Keefe." My mom motioned for him to follow and the two walked out the room. "Did Sophie ever tell you the story of how she burned Lady Belva's cape?"

A loud laugh was his answer.

I sighed, but noticed my dad was smiling. "What?" I asked.

"Does Keefe ever make fun of you?"

"All the time," I said with a roll of my eyes as I heard Keefe's obnoxious laugh from the other room.

"Interesting." He got up, still smiling, and went to the living room where my mom was still telling the story. I followed him.

"…and then she thought to whap meant to whip, so she _whipped_ it!"

Keefe practically howled with laughter. I couldn't help but smile as he held his stomach and doubled over. Even my dad was laughing along with him. But my smile faded when my mom said,

"Oh, now _this_ story is even better. Sophie was cleaning her pet imp, Iggy's, cage when—"

"Okay!" I said loudly, shoving my way in between them. "Can you please stop embarrassing me?"

"Aw, c'mon, Foster! It was just getting to the good part!"

"Yeah, I know." I turned back to my mom. "We have to get going if we want to see a movie at Everglen so…"

"Oh, alright," my mom said, standing up along with my dad.

"Nice meeting you, Keefe," my dad said.

"Yes," my mom added. "I have a feeling we'll be seeing you a lot in the future." And then her and my dad shared a few laughs together.

I dragged Keefe with me out the door to save us both from anymore embarrassment. We walked in comfortable silence until Keefe said,

"So. Your mom sure has a lot of stories, huh?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't you say a _word_."

"Oh, you're mad? What are you gonna do, _whap_ me?"

I sighed.

* * *

Keefe and I walked in Everglen (him opening the door for me like the Forever Gentleman he is) to be greeted by two angry siblings.

"Where were you guys?" Biana said. "We've been waiting to start the movie for two hours!"

"Yeah, sorry," I said sheepishly. "But we just had dinner, and then—"

"Wait," Fitz interrupted. "You guys had dinner together?"

"Yeah," Keefe said slowly. "So?"

Fitz and Biana both shared a look. A look of what? I don't know. Probably some weird sibling thing.

"Hey, Fitz? Let's go get the snacks!" Biana said.

"Why can't—"

"Let's go!" she grabbed his arm and dragged him into the kitchen as he whined her name in annoyance. I looked at them weirdly and sat on the couch to wait. Keefe followed and plopped into the seat next to me. I felt my heart race again for some reason…

"Oh, man," Keefe groaned. "I feel sleep coma coming."

I nodded, suddenly feeling tired as well. "Me too."

"You know what else I feel?" he smirked. "Gas coming. And a lot of it."

I sent him a disgusted glare. "Don't you _dare_ —I will slap you."

He snorted. "With those tiny hands? Please, it'll barely hurt."

I frowned. "My hands are not tiny." I held one of my hands up, palm out. "They're normal size."

"Nah, they're pretty small. I bet my hands are twice as big." He held out his hand, too.

"Yeah, 'cause you have ogre hands."

He remained unfazed. "Don't try to turn this back on me."

"I'm not. Fine, look." I pressed my palm against his. I immediately felt tingles that traveled from my hand to all the way up my arm. I swallowed.

"My hand is at least two inches bigger than yours…" he trailed off, glancing at our hands. I looked at them, too. His hand _was_ bigger than mine. I suddenly felt tiny.

"Yeah…" I said quietly. And before I stopped myself, I curled my fingers in between his. After a few seconds, he did the same and completely intertwined our fingers. Suddenly it felt like my heart fell down a flight of stairs. I slowly dragged my eyes away from our intertwined hands and looked at his eyes to find his looking back. And then my heart fell down another three flights. And then I forgot how to breathe. Because—and I don't know if I was imagining this—the ice in his icy blue eyes seemed to melt as they gazed into mine (and it sent shivers down my spine). It felt as if he was staring into my soul, and I was staring into his. And then I knew something was there. I don't know what, but it was _something._ It felt like we he was a magnet and I was the metal and I was just drawn to him. I didn't even realize I was moving closer to him until our faces were only a couple of inches apart. It felt the _something_ was like—

"You guys are going to be so happy!" another voice said loudly.

I jumped and quickly scrambled back and Keefe ripped his hand away from mine and he scrambled back as well. I avoided his gaze and hid behind my hair. I let out the breath I was holding in, and felt my face burn. I looked down at my hand, which was suddenly cold.

"We got mallowmelt and custard bursts fresh out the oven!" Biana said, walking into the room with a plate, and Fitz came after her holding another plate.

"Ooohh!" Keefe said, jumping off the couch and grabbing two of each.

I got up as well and stole one from Keefe's hands. "Stop being greedy."

Keefe simply replaced the one I took with another one off the plate, looking at me and chewing as unattractively as he could. And he succeeded.

I grimaced, looking away before I lost my appetite completely.

Biana laughed. "You guys are so cute."

Keefe started choking on his custard burst and I gawked at her. "How is him chewing like a pig _cute?_ "

"Hey—I chew with grace!" Keefe argued, following Fitz to the couch.

I rolled my eyes, ready to argue back but Biana's smile made me think otherwise.

"What?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing…" she walked to the couch, still smiling. I just shrugged, and sat next to Keefe. But my decision was quickly regretted when Keefe grabbed another mallowmelt and started chewing again.

"Hey guys," Keefe said between a particularly loud chew. "You wanna hear a story about Foster?"

I sighed.

KEEFE POV

Okay, I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't fazed by me and Foster's little…moment. I'd also be lying if I said I didn't feel something there, even if I didn't know what. Good thing Biana and Fitz came with the snacks, because I don't know what would have happened if they didn't. I had to forget about it quickly (because I was pretty sure it wasn't healthy the way my heart was beating) so I purposely chewed noisily to get on Foster's nerves. I grinned to myself as she scrunched up her nose in annoyance.

Halfway through the movie, I yawned and felt myself slowly shutting down. Food coma was hitting me hard tonight. I closed my eyes and began to drift off until something hard hit my shoulder. I winced in pain and looked down.

Foster's food coma apparently hit before mine, and she fell asleep. And her head landed—painfully—on my shoulder. I watched her sleep until my neck hurt from craning it down for too long. And not to mention her chin was digging into my shoulder blade. I shrugged my shoulder, and her head lifted…and then fell again, digging even harder into my bone. I grimaced, shrugging my shoulder again. She moved her head—still asleep I think—and rested it between the end of my neck and the top of my shoulder. I sighed in relief. It was actually kind of…comfortable. Eventually, I felt myself drift off into a nice sleep.

BIANA POV

I clapped as I watched the credits roll on the screen. Fitz rolled his eyes.

"It wasn't even that good—stop clapping."

I rolled my eyes back but stopped clapping. "It _was_ good. Sophie, back me up here."

I turned to them when I didn't get an answer. There on the couch was a sleeping Keefe and Sophie. She had her head on his shoulder and her whole body was practically leaning against his. He had his arm loosely around her waist and his head was on top of hers.

"They're so _cute!_ " I exclaimed.

Even Fitz had to grin. "Yeah, I guess." He pulled out his imparter and started taking pictures. "Blackmail," he explained with an evil grin.

I rolled my eyes. "We have to wake them up, Sophie has to go home."

Fitz walked leaned over and yelled: "Wake up, ya lovebirds!"

Keefe immediately jumped and Sophie groggily woke. They both frowned. And then turned red. And then scrambled away from each other.

"We didn't want to wake you like that," I said, sending Fitz a glare. "But Sophie has to go home because her parents so…"

"Oh—uh—yeah—okay," Sophie stuttered, standing up, and glanced at Keefe quickly.

"Ugh, you got drool on my shirt," Keefe said to Sophie, smirk returning as he stood as well.

"I did not!" she snapped. "Besides, my ears are ringing from your loud snoring!"

He snorted, following her to the door. "Please—my shirt is soaked from your saliva!"

They both began pulling on their boots and coats. "That's better than having damaged ear drums!"

Keefe opened the door, letting Sophie out first and then followed her. Their arguing faded out as he closed the door behind him.

I stood there, blinking. "They didn't even say bye."

"They're cute, though," Fitz said, mimicking me.

"They're _hopeless._ "

"Don't worry, they'll get together in at least a couple of weeks."

I snorted. "Please. They're both in too much denial for that. I say by the end of this month."

"Okay. 5 servings of mallowmelt _and_ custard bursts for the person who gets it right."

And we shook on it.

* * *

 **A/N:** Ugh, this chapter didn't come out as I hoped…sorry for the disappointment of a chapter, and for not updating for a while. But I can't use the laptop over the weekend. And sorry for the short Keefe POV.

And this story is nearing the end, guys. I'm not good at writing about cheesy romancy stuff and I don't like writing that, so after they kiss they'll be an epilogue then it's over. But that won't be for about…maybe 3 more chapters? I don't know.

I'm pretty sure y'all know what to do after you read a chapter of mine. Right? Okay.

Oh and I didn't proofread this so sorry for the many mistakes that I just know are in here.

Oh and for Guest who asked if I can make Sophie and Keefe go through a romantic moment but they don't realize it, can you please elaborate? I'm not sure what you mean?


	11. Chapter 11: Dance

SOPHIE POV

"Sophie! Sophie, Sophie, Sophie!"

I stopped walking and turned around. Biana was rushing toward me, hands flying everywhere. All the prodigies looked at us and I felt my face warm at all the stares.

"What?" I hissed at the bouncing girl in front of me.

Biana just giggled. "I have some exciting news!"

"What is it?" I asked, a bit curious.

"Okay. So my mom and dad's anniversary is tomorrow so it'll be 20 years that they've been married."

I smiled. "That's great."

"I know! But you didn't even hear the exciting part, yet—they're having a party at Everglen! This is special to them, so they're hosting a party and everyone is invited! And we get to dress up!"

"Oh. Great." I wasn't exactly thrilled I had to dress up.

"And they will be food, games, music, and dancing," Biana continued. "My parents sent out the scrolls for the invitations today. Aren't you so _excited?_ "

Before I had a chance to answer she continued. "I already picked out my gown, shoes, and hairstyle." She paused, eyes widening. "Sophie, you need a nice gown!"

"Hey, I have plenty of nice gowns," I said defensively.

Biana raised an eyebrow. "You mean that brown gown you have? No offense, but that dress is not very flattering. Oh, I know! You can have one of mine! I have thousands of beautiful gowns."

Before I could protest, Biana dragged me out the doors of Foxfire. Oh, boy…

* * *

"No."

"Sophie, you look _gorgeous!_ "

"I look like a walking glitter stick."

Biana rolled her eyes, beginning to drag me out the door. "C'mon, Sophie, the party is starting!"

I groaned, glancing down at my gown that screamed, " _Look at me!_ " I played with the bracelets Biana forced me to wear and shoved my hair out of my face.

"Let's go and partaaaayyy!" Biana said, linking her arm in mine. "I'm so excited!"

That made one of us.

KEEFE POV

"Dude, muskog gas isn't as bad as gulon gas."

"Are you kidding? I'm pretty sure muskog gas can burn your nostrils if you breath it in."

I was at Everglen because Della and Alden were having a party for their 20th anniversary. People were already here, but they were in the hall. Fitz and I were in the kitchen feasting on custard bursts.

"I'm telling you," Fitz said through a mouthful of food. "Gulon gas smells like flowers compared to muskog gas."

I raised a brow. "I didn't know you smell flowers in your free time."

He threw his empty plate at me. I easily dodged it and smirked. The plate, however, hit someone who was behind us.

" _Excuse_ me!" I instantly recognized that voice.

I turned around, smirking. "Biana, tell Fitz that…" I trailed off, because Biana was standing next to Foster. I blinked and then blinked again.

Foster looked…wow.

Her hair was down—something I rarely see—and it reached past her hips. Her blonde hair now had waves in it (was it always so shiny?), and it tumbled down her back like curtains. She was wearing a long red gown that was a bit glittery but the red made her brown eyes stand out even more. Not to mention the dress brought out curves that I didn't even realize she had. I tugged on my shirt that suddenly felt too tight. Did it suddenly just get hot in there?

Because…wow.

Foster was staring at the floor, looking like she wanted to crawl in a hole. I felt huge waves of embarrassment radiating off of her. But then she looked back up, and her eyes instantly met mine (and I ignored the sudden increase of my heart) and we stared at each other. I realized she wasn't used to dressing up—and didn't like it for that matter—and she was asking for me to say something. She didn't ask, but I could see it in her eyes.

So I pulled a smirk to my face and asked, "Biana?"

Her shoulders relaxed a little and smiled. "Biana."

"Hey, I did a good job!" Biana said defensively, putting her hands on her hips.

I snorted, just to get on Foster's nerves. She stuck her tongue out at me and walked toward the snack table (and I swear it looked like there was a ray of sunlight streaming down at her as she walked). I swallowed.

"Why were you guys in here, anyway?" Biana asked, but suspiciously eyed the plate of custard bursts next to Fitz and I. "The party's in the hall!"

"I know," Fitz said. "But we were just waiting for the ladies to arrive so we could get on the dance floor."

Biana scoffed. "Like any girl would want to dance with you."

The two started to argue as we left the kitchen to go to the hall. I didn't say anything, because how could I when Foster was walking right next to me looking like _that?_ So I just dug my hands into my pockets and followed the two arguing siblings ahead of us.

When we got to the hall, there was music playing and Della and Alden were surrounded by people the adults. There were also prodigies from school all talking and eating.

"Ooh, is that more mallowmelt?" I said, walking to the snack table.

Foster followed me. "Didn't you already have that today?"

"I had custard bursts, not mallowmelt." I smirked.

Her brown eyes rolled to the ceiling. She said something, but I didn't even know what because I noticed a group of guys were ogling Foster behind her. I narrowed my eyes at the greasy, pony-tailed guys who were practically drooling. I don't know why I was clenching my fists so hard, or why I even cared.

"Who are you glaring at?" Foster asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. She turned to look behind her (and the way her hair bounced and fell so perfectly down her back as she turned made me want to scream).

"No one," I said quickly, popping a mallowmelt cake in my mouth. I watched her grimace in disgust as I purposely chewed with an open mouth.

"You're disgusting."

"But you still keep me around," I said, grinning cheekily.

"I ask myself why I do every day," she said with a sigh.

"It's obviously because you love me." I stopped grinning, realizing how that sounded. I glanced at her and she was still turned away, but her body looked stiff. "Like a friend," I added quickly. I had to add a joke to ease the tension so I said, "Of course, I wouldn't blame you if you did…"

She turned back to me and opened her mouth to say something, but Alden spoke.

"And now it's time for my beautiful wife and I to dance!" he said, pulling Della along with him. "Let's show them how it's done, baby."

"Alden," Della said, face turning slightly red. Alden just grinned and the two began to dance. First the song was slow, and then the next song was fast. After they danced, all the couples joined them. And then after a few songs, everyone joined in.

"Isn't this so much fuuuuuuun?" Biana said loudly, bouncing up to me and Foster.

"That's enough punch for you," Fitz said coming up behind her and snatching the drink away from her.

She whined, putting her hands on her hips and turned to her brother. But before she could say anything, a boy—Dex, I think—slid up next to her.

"Biana, you want to dance?"

"Oh, absolutely!" Biana said, and linked their arms together and walked to the dance floor—while Fitz glared at him, of course.

"I better keep my eye on him," he said, following them. But a girl with long black hair and silver ends made him think other wise, and he followed her instead. I snorted. But then I noticed Foster and I were the only ones just standing there. I glanced at her, and she was watching everyone dance. Maybe…she wants to dance? I should probably ask her but only as friends! Like I'd ever dance with Foster as a couple or something.

I wiped my sweaty hands on my pants and nervously glanced at Foster again. Wait…why was I so nervous? I'm just going to ask if she wants to dance but only as friends. Keefe Sencen never gets nervous asking the ladies anything! I took a deep breath.

"So, Fost—"

Some boy somehow slid up next to Foster and I realized it was the same boy I saw earlier. And sure enough, as I looked, his gang of greasy geeks were watching him and giving him a thumbs up.

"Uh, S-Sophie," the boy stuttered. "You w-wanna…d-dance with…me?"

The hope radiating off of him was blinding. I glared at him, but the boy just pretended I wasn't even standing there. I was about to rip off his pathetic ponytail.

"Um…" Foster glanced at me. I forced a smirk. It's not like we're dating or anything, so why should I care who dances with her? "Sure…" she trailed off because she forgot his name. I almost laughed.

"Valin," he said, looking almost hurt.

"Valin!" Foster said quickly. "Yeah, uh…sure, Valin."

He looked like he was about to faint. He took her hand and dragged her to the floor.

 _I don't care who she dances with, she can dance with anyone she wants. I don't care._

But why was I wishing _I_ were the one dancing with her?

SOPHIE POV

I tried to hide my grimace as Valin's abnormally clammy hands squeezed mine. The grease from his ponytail was dripping onto his shirt, and he was looking at me with a blob of spit hanging from his mouth. Needless to say, I was very uncomfortable.

"Just like old times right, Sophie?"

I frowned. "Old times…?" I was pretty sure I never talked to him before.

"You don't remember? Lady Belva made us ballroom dance for detention and we danced together! It was so romantic…"

Oh, now I remembered. I also remembered I tried to shove the memory to the very back of my mind after that. But of course I didn't say that, I just forced a smile and looked away from his uncomforting stare.

I unconsciously searched for Keefe, but he wasn't standing at the snack table anymore. I craned my neck past Valin's shoulder and then saw Keefe. He was dancing with a girl I've never seen before. But she had long, brown hair, tan skin, and turquoise eyes. And even though I've never met her, I suddenly despised her. She giggled like a little girl every time Keefe said something and was practically pressing her whole body against his. I looked away.

"So, uh, Sophie I was thinking," Valin said. "Maybe after this we should go—"

The song ended, and I quickly stepped back and ripped my hands away from his. I rubbed the sweat from his hands off mine, trying my best to hide my disgust.

"I like you, Sophie," Valin blurted out.

I froze. "Um…" I sighed. "Valin, look, I don't…you deserve someone better, okay?"

He sighed. "This is about Keefe Sencen, isn't it?"

I blinked. "What? _No!_ Why would you say that?"

"You guys are always hanging out together."

"Yeah, because we're good friends."

He just sighed again and walked away. I said a weak apology and quickly left the floor and went back to the snack table. Keefe joined me a few minutes later.

"Oh, man," he said, looking behind him as if someone was following him. "I had to get away from that girl."

"The one you were dancing with?" I said the last part more bitterly than I wanted to.

"Yeah. She's so annoying. She laughs at _everything_ I say, even if I'm just asking a question."

"Huh. If she laughs at your jokes there's definitely something wrong with her."

"Oh, haha, Foster. At least I didn't have to dance with a dude whose drool covers half his face."

I couldn't help but laugh. "You're evil."

"I'm serious—I could feel his emotions for you across the floor."

I sighed. "Yeah, he told me he liked me."

"Did you turn him down?"

"Yeah, but he thought it was because of you. And I told him we're just good friends," I added quickly. "We _are_ good friends, right?" Even though we argued half the time, and he got on my nerves almost all the time, I still thought we were good friends.

Keefe turned to me. "Sophie, I think that we're best friends." And he sounded so sincere, especially since he used my first name. And then I noticed he was looking at me the same way he did when we were on the couch at Everglen a couple of days ago. My stomach flipped.

"Why are you two just standing there?" Biana said loudly, coming over to Keefe and I. I groaned. Biana usually gets crazy at parties. "The party's on the dance floor!"

"I…don't know," I said when Keefe didn't answer.

Biana started dancing in place. "Well, come on! Dance! Even Fitz is dancing." She pointed to her left, and I saw Fitz dancing with Linh. I smiled.

I glanced at Keefe. Was it weird for two friends to dance? I don't think so…Besides, I can't dance good.

"Oh, you guys are ridiculous." And without warning, Biana grabbed both of our wrists and dragged us to the floor. When we got there, she let go and pushed us toward each other.

"Come on, Dex!" Biana said to Dex as he approached her. He grinned and took her hand and they danced away.

I stood there, staring at my shoes.

"Well, we're here," Keefe said. "Mine as well dance, right?"

"I…can't dance."

Keefe slowly grinned his cute grin. "Well _I_ can, so let's do it. Besides, it'll give us both something to laugh at." I said nothing. "Come on, the song is almost over," he pressed.

"No, I'm terrible at dancing."

"You can't be that bad."

I shook my head. I was seriously clumsy—especially at dancing. I tripped over my own feet every time I tried. I let out a surprised gasp as Keefe suddenly grabbed my wrists and pulled me toward him. I ungracefully landed against his chest. I felt my face warm as I stared at his shirt.

Keefe took a step grinning. "Show me some moves, Foster."

I sighed, realizing I wasn't going to get out of this. "Fine. But don't laugh."

He just kept grinning and didn't say anything. I was about to start but the song ended.

"Oh, come on!" Keefe exclaimed.

KEEFE POV

I looked down at Foster, who seemed to breath a sigh of relief as the song ended and a slow song began. Uh-uh. She isn't going to get out of dancing that easy.

So I grabbed her hand (and ignored that tingly feeling I got) and twirled her. She gasped and tripped over her foot and stumbled back.

I laughed. "You're worse than I thought."

Her face flushed and she nervously glanced around. "Keefe, everyone is slow dancing."

I grinned and dipped her. "So?"

"So we're the only ones dancing like this!"

I lifted her up and her hair slapped my face (and I got a whiff of vanilla and I was pretty sure I've never smelled anything so good) and she clumsily stood back up, her face still flushed.

"I know, that's what makes it fun." I twirled her again, and she didn't stumble as much as before.

I watched her glance nervously at the slow, dancing people around us before looking back at me. "Fine."

I smiled at her and she started dancing. After a short while, she no longer nervously glanced at everyone else but kept her focus on dancing with me. Her face was no longer flushed from embarrassment and she was grinning ear to ear. I watched her brown eyes sparkle and her blonde hair seemed to shine like the sun. She let out a laugh as we danced (and it was a sound I've grown to love) and I didn't notice everyone was watching us until the song was over. I ended the dance by dipping Foster and she looked back at me, breathing heavily and her smile so big it made my heart race.

People then started clapping and I lifted her up. Foster's face turned as red as her dress when she noticed everyone was watching. I smirked at her and grabbed her hand (and my stomach flipped) and made us do a cheesy, exaggerated bow.

"You're actually not that bad at dancing," I told her as everyone started dancing again as a new song came on. "You just have to relax and not worry what everyone thinks."

"Thanks," she grinned. "I bet I can out dance you, now!"

"Oh, it is so on!"

I don't know how long we danced for, but I didn't mind one bit because I honestly couldn't picture me dancing with anyone else. Not that that I like her or something. Please. Like I'd _ever_ end up with that girl.

* * *

 **A/N: lolol what are good endings?**

 **Sorry for the wait, but I had a terrible thing called writers block for the past few days. I tried writing, but** _ **nothing**_ **came to mind. But I got over it. But, guys, it's so hard writing this because I feel so much pressure to not disappoint you guys. So I really hope you liked this cheesy af chapter (that I didn't proofread).**

 **And for those of you who don't want this story to end, I'm sorry but every story has to end and I'd rather end it on a good note then end it because no one reads it anymore because the story went down or something. But there will be one more chapter, and then an epilogue. Sorrrrryyyy.**

 **But I'll have one hell of an author's note on the last chapter thanking everyone for their support bc it means a lot to me.**

 **Don't forget to R &R! And don't be afraid to be honest if you didn't like it, it's okay lol.**

 **Oh, and next chapter: the moment you all have (probably) been waiting for! A kiss :O yes. And forgive me if it's terrible because I wouldn't know and have no idea how it feels like so please excuse my attempt at romance because I have no love life whatsoever.**


	12. Chapter 12: Fire

**A/N: PLEASE READ:**

 **Okay, before you begin reading, I need to clear something up.**

 **So a lot of you are saying I shouldn't end it after the kiss and that you guys read this story and love it (and I'm SO thankful for the support. Like, you really have no idea). But I was already planning on ending it after they get together. Why? Because I usually don't like to read stories after the two characters get together. I like the build-up and the platonic romance. After the two get together, I the interest for the story goes wayyy downhill and I stop reading it.**

 **Now I'm not saying that's what will happen with you guys, because we're different people. You might love it when the people get together and stuff. But I can't write that. I don't** _ **like**_ **to write that. Therefore, if I continued this story after they got together, my inspiration to write this story will fall dramatically. And this means my writing skills will also fall, and because of that, people will gradually stop reading the story. And I wouldn't want to end it because people stop reading it, because I'll feel like a failure. I'd rather end it on a good note—which it is on now. So I'm not ending it because I think people don't read or like this story.**

 **I'm sorry to everyone who does not want this story to end, but all good things come to an end at some point. And you guys are also waiting for a kiss, and I think it's been long enough, yeah?**

 **But don't worry; I'll have one more chapter after this that basically has nice/big/slightly cheesy moments that happened when Keefe and Sophie are together throughout the years. Hopefully you guys will like it. I'm super excited to write it, though.**

 **Okay, here's the chapter you guys have been waiting for! I reaaallllyyy hope I don't disappoint you guys. The pressure is real. This chapter is pretty long, guys! It's the longest chapter I've posted yet. I didn't disappoint this time, yeah? I hope not...**

* * *

SOPHIE POV

I was walking out of my Elvin History class at Foxfire when a guy who looked about my age came up to me as I left the room.

"Hey. Sophie, right?" he said with a chummy grin.

"Yeah," I said slowly. I knew he was in my history class, but I never met actually met him before.

"I'm Dale. Dale Kensley." He stuck his hand out in front of my face.

I shook it. "Nice to meet you, Dale." After a few seconds of handshaking, I slowly pulled my hand away from his when he didn't let go. I smiled politely and began to make my way to my lockers but he followed me.

"So, you like Elvin History?" he asked, copying my stride.

I snorted. "Are you kidding? I think that's my least favorite class."

"Mine, too. Seriously, it's so boring."

"I know!"

He grinned at me. That's when I took in his appearance. He had pale skin, sky blue eyes, brown hair that was gelled back, and was about a foot taller than me. I had to admit—he was handsome. Not nearly as handsome as Keefe, though. Wait, what?

"What's your favorite class?" Dale asked as I put my books in my locker.

"Probably telepathy," I answered. "Because I'm good at it."

"Yeah, I heard you're one of the strongest telepaths here."

"Not really," I mumbled.

"I doubt that. And my favorite class it definitely my Conjuring Class."

"You're a Conjurer?"

He gave slightly cocky smirk and snapped his fingers. Instantly, a rose appeared in his hand and he held it out to me, still smirking.

I felt myself blush at his sudden act. "Oh, um…thank you." I awkwardly took it.

"You can thank me by going to the movies with me today."

I studied him. He still was smirking, but his eyes looked hopeful. But I barely even knew him—this was the first conversation I had with him ever. Besides, what about Keefe? I blinked. What _about_ Keefe? Him and I are just friends (I frowned at the pang in my chest). It shouldn't matter if I hung out with Dale. Besides, he seemed a little cool. And we _did_ share the same hate towards Elvin History….Oh, what the hell.

"Sure."

* * *

"So where were you today?" Biana asked as she painted her nails. I was at Everglen later that day in her room. "I didn't see you at the end of Foxfire."

I tossed one of her throw pillows in the air, casually shrugging. "I think…I think I was on a date."

Biana snapped her head up. "You were on a date with Keefe? _Finally!_ How'd it go? What'd you—"

"I wasn't on a date with Keefe," I said more defensively than I'd like to admit. "Why would you think that?"

"No reason," Biana said quickly. "Well who'd you go on a date with?"

"A guy named Dale."

"Dale Kensley? Oh, he's so _handsome_ ," she swooned. "He has such dreamy, sky blue eyes…"

I laughed. "Yeah, him."

"How was it?" she asked, resuming her nail painting.

"It was…okay. I guess."

"Why was it just okay?"

Why? I don't know—I just…didn't really like him. We left for the movies after Foxfire was over, and he let the doors of the cinema hit my face as we went in. At least Keefe actually had the decency to _not_ have the doors slap me when we went. And at least Keefe actually offered to pay for his food and tickets—Dale just paid for his ticket, and then told me to buy some snacks for him. After the movie, he complained that it wasn't even good and let the doors hit me in the face again. And then he said we should get food because he was hungry—like all the food me made me buy for him wasn't enough. So he led me to a food place and made the decision to order for the both of us. He got us fish and greens—I hate fish, but I didn't complain and forced the food down my throat.

After we were done eating (and him flirting with the waitress the whole time) he said, "So, you want to do this again sometime? Wait, who am I kidding? Of course you do. I'll let you know when I'm available….unless you want to just come over my house." He winked suggestively and cockily smirked. I scoffed at what he was referring to. He just laughed. "Later, Sophie." He walked away before I could say anything, leaving me to walk home alone. At least Keefe walks me home.

"I don't really like Dale," I told Biana as she blew her nails.

"Yeah. You only have eyes for Keefe, anyway."

My head snapped up. "What? No, I don't."

Biana just rolled her eyes. "Sophs, you have to stop with the denial."

"Okay, first: don't call me 'Sophs.' Second, I'm not in denial. I don't like Keefe!"

"Someone's being a little defensive…"

"I'm not!"

"Whatever you say," she sang.

I sighed, realizing it was pointless to argue with Biana. But I _don't_ like Keefe.

* * *

The next day at Foxfire Dale came up to me again. He sauntered up to my locker and leaned against the one next to mine.

"So. How about that second date today?"

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye and saw he was cockily smirking. I scoffed. "What date? I didn't agree to a second date."

He stopped smirking. "Um, I was pretty sure we said we were going to keep dating."

"No, _you_ said you wanted to. You didn't ask me anything—you _never_ asked me anything."

"Fine. Do you want to go on another date tonight?"

"No."

He pushed himself off the locker with a scowl. "What? Why not?"

"Look, just go date some other girl, okay? This one's not interested."

Apparently he never got rejected before because he got angry real quick. He stepped closer to me with his jaw clenched. I took a step back.

"Dude, chill out," I said, feeling small. I expected him to start swinging at the lockers by how mad he looked, but then he suddenly leaned down.

And kissed me.

As soon as I felt his lips on mine I jumped back, slapping him in the face. "What the hell?" I shrieked, wiping my lips. He was my first kiss. Dale Kensley was my first kiss. I wanted my first kiss to be romantic and at least with someone I liked. But it was with _him_.

"What's the matter with you?" Dale yelled, rubbing his face where I just slapped him.

"What's the matter with _you!_ " I yelled back. I saw prodigies whispering and forming a crowd around us. And for once, I didn't even care. But people were snickering and pointing at Dale because he just got slapped. I saw his face flush from embarrassment, and then anger.

So he pushed me. I gasped in surprise as my back painfully landed on the lockers behind me. I heard gasps of shock and suddenly no one was laughing anymore. And all I thought was: how dare he.

KEEFE POV

Okay, so I was watching Foster and some dude talk at the lockers. But that was only because I was bored and they just happened to be in my line of vision.

Anyway, I was watching that guy talk to Foster while trying to smirk—and failing _miserably._ I realized it was the same guy that left with Foster yesterday. I just so happened to see the two walk out of the doors of Foxfire that day, and had no idea where they went. Or why. But that's none of my business. Foster can talk to anyone guy. Even if he's…

Standing way too close to her. I frowned. Okay, he's waaaayyy too close to Fos—

My jaw dropped. He kissed her. He _kissed_ Sophie. For some reason, my fists clenched and suddenly hated this dude's guts even though I've never met him before. And I felt like making sure he can't ever kiss anyone again when I was done with him. But…did Foster like it?

My question was answered when she pushed him off and slapped him. I laughed, feeling better that she didn't like it. Not that I care if she did…

"What's the matter with you?" I heard him yell. I snorted to myself. What's the matter with _her_?

"What's the matter with _you!_ " Foster said back. I grinned. That's my girl.

Wait. She's not my girl! Why did I just say that?

But before I could question myself even more, what happened next made me forget what I just thought. Because the guy just pushed Sophie.

Oh hell no.

I saw red. My legs were moving before I even realized it. He did not just put his hands on her and shove her into the lockers. I felt her pain from all the way over here. He hurt her.

Oh _hell_ no.

I shoved the prodigies that had now formed a circle around them away and stalked up to them (breathing more heavily than I'd like to admit). Foster about to swing at him but I grabbed her fist that was in the air. She looked at me and her eyes grew wide for some reason. But I wasn't focused on her. I was focused on _him_.

I let go of her hand after I gently led her away and stepped up to the idiot that was taller than me—dammit! And he was smirking. He didn't have a lick of remorse for what he just did. Oh, that was about to change…

"You're going to apologize, and then get your sorry ass away from her. Now." I glared at him, daring him to do anything else (and could my voice always go so low?).

He just snorted. "Oh, are you the boyfriend? Huh. Didn't know she had one while we were on a _date_ yesterday—" my eye twitched. "—Or when she had her tongue down my throat just—"

He never got to finish that sentence because he was too busy being shoved into the lockers with a satisfying thud.

"You like it?" I said as he scrambled up.

"No," he said, having the nerve to try and smirk again. "But I bet Sophie like it when I—"

And yet another sentence he never got to finish because I punched the idiot in the face (which hurt my knuckles a lot). I shook my fist and was about to give him a few more jabs but Dame Alina and Magnate Leto (a/n: is that his name? Haha I forgot) grabbed my cape and pulled me back. I had to count to ten to try to calm down, which worked. A little.

"There are no fights in this Academy!" Magnate Leto yelled at me. Dame Alina grabbed the idiot's cape and pulled him up. And I couldn't help but inwardly grin as he groaned in pain and held his nose.

"Let me see," Dame Alina said, inspecting his nose. Which was crooked and bloody. Huh. I thought I felt a crack.

"You two," Magnate Leto said. "go to the Healing Center."

"I'm not hurt," I said angrily, still glaring at that idiot.

"Your knuckles are bleeding."

I stupidly looked down and, sure enough, my knuckles were cut and bleeding. And then it started to hurt a lot when I saw it.

Dame Alina and Magnate Leto dragged us down the hall, keeping a safe distance between me and the idiot. Which was good because I probably would have broke much more than his nose.

SOPHIE POV

"Would you hold still?"

"I'm uncomfortable!"

"Keefe! You made me mess up!"

"Sorry. Jeez, a guy can't get comfortable?"

"Just hold still!"

I was at the Healing Center trying to put salve on Keefe's hand. Which would have ended sooner if he didn't keep moving. I sighed in annoyance, but then remembered why he had a bloody hand.

After Dale pushed me I was about to hit him, but Keefe grabbed my hand before I could. When I looked at him, he looked pissed. I've seen him angry (like when we fought) but I've never seen him look like _that_. He was practically blowing out steam, his jaw was clenching and unclenching (and I swear that was the most attractive thing I've ever seen), and his icy blue eyes were full of fury. I've also never heard his voice go so deep.

I knew I should have done something when Keefe shoved Dale into the lockers. I also should have said something when he punched him in the face and broke his nose. But, honestly, watching Keefe like that was…hot. Really, really hot.

I followed them to the Healing Center after Dame Alina and Magnate Leto stopped the fight and had to rub salve on Keefe's hand because Elwin was too busy trying to fix Dale's broken nose.

"How bad was it?" I said quietly, continuing to rub Keefe's hand (and I ignored the feeling in my stomach as I held it).

"How bad was what?" he asked.

"Your punishment."

He pretended to shrug it off. "It's no biggie—just a three day suspension and detention for the rest of the semester."

I didn't say anything. How could I when he and I both knew he got punished for protecting me? I knew I should have stopped it.

"Stop it."

"Stop what?" I asked, looking up.

"Stop feeling guilty."

"I don't—"

"I can feel your emotions, Foster, and guilt is the strongest one."

"Yeah, well…" I mumbled, looking away and going back to putting the salve on his knuckles.

"Foster."

I rubbed the salve on harder.

Keefe used his other hand to lift my chin up (and my heart stopped beating as he touched me). I stopped rubbing the salve on his knuckle and looked up into his icy blue eyes.

"Okay," he said, holding my gaze. "First, you're rubbing the salve on way too hard." He grinned his cute, crooked grin. I realized seeing him smile was one of my favorite things to look at. When I grinned back he continued. "Second, you don't have to feel guilty. I wanted to hit him, so I did. It's not your fault—it's his. So stop it."

"But it wasn't worth the suspension and detention..."

"Are you kidding? I have no school for three days! Plus…you're worth it."

My stomach did a back flip as he said those last words. I was worth it to him. For some reason, the thought made me so happy.

And then I noticed how close we were sitting—not to mention he was still holding my chin. My heart was beating faster than normal because I swear he was looking at me the same way he did the time we held hands on the Vacker's couch. The way the ice in his icy blue eyes seemed to melt as I melted along with it. It felt as if he was a magnet again and I was just…drawn to him. And then I realized something.

Does that mean I… _like_ him?

I scoffed to myself. Of course it doesn't. But I was beginning to doubt myself as I felt myself leaning toward him. I glanced at his lips that seemed so close all of the sudden and wondered how it would feel if we—

"Okay, Dale, your nose is healed." (a/n: haha you thought! Lol jk)

I accidentally squeaked out of surprise as Elwin's voice suddenly spoke. Keefe immediately ripped his hand from my chin as I scrambled away, heart beating faster than normal. Keefe's face looked flushed as he pretended to take interest in his knuckles while I pretended to look for the lid to the salve, my face burning.

"How's your knuckles, Keefe?" Elwin asked as he finished with Dale.

"Uh—um, fine. Good," Keefe stuttered, scratching the back of his neck as he held out his hand to Elwin.

"Looks good," he said after inspecting Keefe's knuckles. "You're all set."

"Thanks." Keefe and I left the center after that. The walk down the halls was silent until Keefe broke it.

"So. Was he your first kiss?"

"No…"

He gave me a sideways look. I rolled my eyes. "Fine, yes."

Keefe smirked. "I knew it."

"Hey—it's actually surprising since so many guys try to make a move on me all the time."

He laughed. "Sure they do."

"They do!"

Dale was my first kiss, and I was pretty upset about it. I imagined mine to have sparks and to feel electricity or something when you kiss. Well, that's what my mom told me anyway. But with him, I felt nothing. I want to have a kiss where I actually feel something. But like that'll ever happen….

KEEFE POV

If you asked how Foster and I ended up laying on my kitchen floor at night, I wouldn't be able to tell you.

But what I do know is that she walked me home today. She insisted on it, and I couldn't say no to that, now could I? I walked a little behind Foster as she told some story that I, honestly, wasn't paying much attention do. I was much more focused on her. Her hair tumbled down her back instead of being in a ponytail or behind her cape for once. She muttered something about losing a…scrunch-tie was it? Scrunchie? Something like that. Anyway, she took off her cape and now her hair bounced up and down as she slightly skipped ahead. And I'm not gonna lie—it was absolutely captivating. But that doesn't mean anything!

Right?

Foster's voice brought me out of my thoughts. "…and then it happened again the next night! Crazy, right?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Definitely crazy."

She turned to me with a raised brow. "You weren't listening, were you?"

"Nope." I grinned at her and she rolled her brown eyes. "Well, we're here." We stopped in front of the gates of my house. I watched Foster play with the hem of her tunic.

"Well, I guess I should go, then…" she said slowly. She looked like she didn't want to leave. And to be honest, I didn't want her to, either.

"Hey," I said before she walked away. "My mom made mallowmelt. Do you want to come in and have some?"

She slowly grinned (and watching her smile is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen). "Do I? Lead the way!"

And, somehow, we ended up lying on my kitchen floor until 8 at night. We were laying adjacent to each other, and the top of our heads brushed against each other as we talked about pointless, random things. And somehow, the conversation got from slummberberry tea to our greatest fears.

"How can you be scared of spiders?" I said, laughing. "They're tiny."

"They shouldn't have that many legs!" Foster defended.

"That's what makes them move fast."

"It's _creepy_." She shuddered for affect.

I grinned. "So if I told you there's a spider over there…"

"There is not!" she snapped, but I still felt her head move to make sure. I snorted. "You know one of my fears—what's one of yours?"

"I don't have any," I said quickly.

"Keefe, everyone has fears."

"Everyone who is normal. When you're as perfect and awesome as me, nothing makes scared."

"Come on," she begged. "I told you mine!"

"Yeah, thanks for that. Now I'll know what to put in your school satchel for a 'surprise.'"

"Keefe!"

I laughed as she sighed in annoyance. After a minute she said quietly, "You can trust me."

I blinked. Because here's the thing: I _did_ trust her—probably more than anyone. Yes, even more than Fitz. Which is surprising because we knew each other since we were in 6th grade and has been my best friend ever since. And he still is, but Sophie has actually become one of my best friends in just a matter of two months. But I felt like I could tell her anything. But that still doesn't mean I won't be embarrassed for telling her my fear.

"Fine," I mumbled after a moment. She didn't say anything, just waited patiently. "I'm afraid large bodies of water. Okay? Who knows what lives in there?" I slightly winced after saying it—what a ridiculous fear. She probably thinks I'm a wimp.

"Like the ocean?" Foster said after a while. I nodded. "But haven't you went to the beach before?"

"Nah, my parents never took me. But…"

"But what?" she seemed to be interested a lot because she turned over and sat on her knees so she was looking down at me. Which wouldn't have been a problem if her brown eyes didn't look so big (and beautiful) and her hair didn't tumble down like curtains so it brushed my face (and it smelled like vanilla). And all I wanted to do was run my fingers through it.

"But—uh…" Great, you idiot, you're stuttering. I cleared my throat. "But…I've always wanted to go the beach to see what it's like…"

"But you're also afraid of it," she finished for me.

I grunted in response. Foster grinned (did it suddenly just get hot in here?). I tried to ignore the fact that we were very close while I looked anywhere but her.

She suddenly stood up. "Let's go, then."

I frowned. "Go where?"

"To the beach." She kept grinning as she held out her hand.

"At 8 o'clock at night?"

She shrugged. "Why not?"

I slowly grinned back. She randomly wanted to go to a beach at night with me—she's crazy. But that was one of the things I liked most about her. So I took her hand (and got the same feeling in my stomach) and she helped me up.

"You're crazy. You know what, right?" I asked her, unshamefully still holding her hand (because, for some reason, I didn't want to let go).

Foster just grinned cheekily. "Yeah? Well, I bet this crazy girl can get there before you can!" With that, she let go of my hand and took off running out the door. I grinned and took of after her, both of us laughing the whole way there.

SOPHIE POV

"Isn't this fun?"

Keefe glared at me as he glanced ahead fearfully.

We were at the beach—yes, randomly at a beach at 9 at night—and Keefe said he'd go in the water (and of course, he decided to take off his shirt and it took me a while to look at him without blushing). To my surprise, the water wasn't that cold as we walked in. Keefe made it about knee length before stopping.

"Oh, big wave!" I warned, pointing to the wave coming our way. I watched the color drain from his face as he saw it. I laughed. "It's okay."

"Foster…" Keefe said fearfully as the wave was getting closer.

"Just stand still and you'll be fine," I told him. But as the wave was about to hit, he panicked and tried to run backwards but was going to end up falling in the water. So I grabbed his hand before he did and held it as the wave hit (which sent tingles all the way up my arm as our fingers intertwined). It only went up to my belly button, but Keefe was still holding on for dear life. I was pretty sure not a single cell in my hand was receiving any oxygen, but I grinned up at him as he peeked through his closed eyes after the wave hit.

"That…wasn't bad," he said, relaxing his grip.

"See?" I told him. "It's fun. You want to go in farther?"

He nodded and we walked in the water until we were waist length. A few waves hit us while we walked, and each time his grip wasn't as tight on my hand. In fact, the last wave that hit made him smile.

"I think I got the hang of this," he said, still smiling.

I smiled back, but then had an evil idea. I remembered he could swim from when I pushed him in the waterfall, so it was okay. Maybe Keefe did rub off on me.

I pushed him. He gasped " _Sophie!_ " and then he fell in the water. I laughed at his face before he fell in. A few seconds later, a spluttering Keefe resurfaced and stood up. His mouth was hanging open from shock and his blond hair stuck to his face as he breathed heavily.

"I'm sorry," I said between breaths. "But that was funny!"

Slowly, his open mouth formed into an open grin. "That was actually fun. I can't believe I was scared of water."

"See? All you needed was a push—" I was cut off by Keefe pushing me backwards. I barely got to hold me breath as I fell in the water. After I resurfaced I couldn't help but smile as Keefe laughed.

"Oh, man! You look like a drowned rat!" he cracked up. Of course, that comment earned him a shove into the water but he pulled me in with him. And then we ended up playing in the water, laughing and shoving and tackling each other for I don't know how long. But all I knew was he got over his fear and looked happy, which made me happy. But also tired.

"Okay," I said between pants. "I'm tired."

"Yeah, me too," he said, looking ahead. I followed his gaze. The moon was full and big and it looked amazing in the sky as the moonlight shined on the water and made it sparkle. And Keefe and I stood in the middle of it.

"Isn't that amazing?" I said with awe, looking back at him. And my heart stopped.

Because Keefe wasn't looking at the moon anymore—he was looking at me. He had that same soft look on his face and eyes as he looked in mine. And then he was a magnet again, and I took a step closer to him before I even told my legs to. But the way he was looking at me must mean _something_. Just like the electricity around us must mean something, too. Because I felt it and I was pretty sure he did, too, because he took another step closer. So close that I felt his warm breath on my forehead, which made my whole face get hot.

I didn't even notice he was leaning in until his face was suddenly an inch from mine. He was looking in my eyes, his eyes still soft but seemed to darken as he glanced at my lips (and that look sent multiple shivers down my spine). And I stopped breathing because we were so close, so very close (and then it hit me hard in my sappy head). My heart pounded so hard in my chest it actually hurt as I leaned in further (because I realized that I _was_ in denial), the heat and electricity around us only increasing (all those lingering looks and constant feelings meant that I _did_ like Keefe) I glanced at his parted lips and rose to my tip toes so we were even _closer_ (I liked him a _lot_ )…and closer (and all I wanted to do was kiss him)…and…

" _Keefe!_ " I exclaimed, getting off my tiptoes and my mouth hanging open in shock and disgust. He just stood there with a chummy grin on his face. (a/n haha you thought again! lol)

"Did you just _lick_ my cheek?" I said, wiping the slimy saliva off of my left cheek in utter disgust. And to think I actually wanted to kiss this fool.

Keefe laughed. "Here, let me help you wash it off." Before I could say no, he pushed me into the water again. I got out and sent my best glare at him, but he didn't even look a little repentant as he kept grinning. And I was really staring to wonder if, or why, I liked Keefe because sometimes he's the most annoying—

"You know I've never told anyone I was afraid of the ocean?" Keefe randomly said, no longer grinning.

I blinked at his sudden serious mood. "Not even Fitz?"

"Nope, not even him. He'd just make fun of me all the time anyway," he laughed. "But I did tell you. Because I trust you."

I knew Keefe didn't trust a lot of people and it took a while for him to. So him to tell me that he trusted me made my heart swell—because that was enough for me.

"Is that just your way of trying to make me forget about what you just did?" I said jokingly.

He grinned his cute, crooked grin. "Did it work?"

"…Maybe."

KEEFE POV

I freaked out.

I mean, Foster and I were going to _kiss._ It was just a spur of the moment thing. Okay, so I was staring at her while she looked at the moon. She just looked so beautiful, and the way the moonlight made her hair shine even more…

Anyway.

I felt something, I'm not gonna lie. And it just felt like there was some electricity or something around us as we got closer and closer. And don't even get me started on how adorable I thought Foster was when she had to stand on her tip toes—it was cute, okay? But we were right about to kiss…and I panicked. It was all too much. There were so many feelings and emotions swirling around that came off from Foster, and me too. And I was pretty sure my heart would have exploded right there and then.

So I licked her cheek. It was unexpected but just what I needed to get a hold of myself. Besides, I've never kissed anyone before. Yes, I know, it's very surprising because it's _me_ I'm talking about but it's true. I'm 16 and still haven't kissed anyone. Fitz would have a field day if he knew that.

"You know, I'm starting to rethink the whole going swimming at night thing," Foster said as we were walking to her house.

"It's called being adventurous," I told her.

"It's called getting grounded. My parents are going to kill me for being out this late."

I nodded. "Probably."

Foster rolled her brown eyes. "Gee, thanks."

"Any time," I said, giving her a cheesy salute.

"I can't wait to wash my face," she muttered, rubbing her cheek while sending me a dirty look.

I just laughed. "Oh, come on, it was funny."

"It was _disgusting_! Your tongue felt all hard and slimy!"

"Hey! My tongue is soft and…whatever the opposite of slimy is!"

She snorted. "I can't believe I even…"

I stopped walking and looked at her. "Even what?" I said more anxiously than I'd like to admit. Because it sounded a lot like she was going to say…

Her eyes went wide and I felt embarrassment coming from her. "Even what what?"

"You know what. Tell me." I twiddled my fingers anxiously.

After a few moments she sighed. "Okay. Fine. I…"

"Go on," I said anxiously.

She turned away and faced forward while nervous emotions came off of her. "I think I…I think I kind of maybe like you. Okay?"

She turned back to me when I didn't say anything. Because I was too busy staring stupidly at her with an open mouth. She looked at me, waiting for me to say something, but I didn't. I couldn't. I _did_ like Sophie—I know I did. I mean, she's awkward, outgoing, strong, sometimes uptight, has a little anger problems, and is just a flat-out adorable dork. But the thing is, I just realized I liked her only today. I had trouble just telling her I trusted her, let alone telling her I _liked_ her.

"Did you hear me?" Foster said a little desperately. "I mean, I don't _kind of_ like you, I like you…I mean, I think I do. No, I do. I know I do. Even though you're annoying most of the time, I do…Ugh, why did I even say anything? You know what? Just pretend I didn't say anything. I'll just—"

I kissed her.

She was just looking so cute and adorkable while she ranted and I just wanted to stop her before my heart could melt anymore. I bolted up all of the courage I could possibly muster, bent down…a lot, grabbed her face, and pressed my lips onto hers. I heard her gasp and she went stiff. But she relaxed and kissed me back.

And it felt like I was in some kind of tornado of feelings. Foster's were strong and radiated off of her stronger than ever around me. But there were also my feelings. It was so much and it's really hard to describe…but let's just say I felt like I was on fire. Not only was my face probably as red as ever, I felt fire cruising through my veins and all around us. I didn't think just a simple kiss could make you feel that way, but was I wrong.

And I didn't think someone's lips could be so soft. Yeah, I touched my lips before, but I've never touched someone else's with my own. But Sophie's lips were so soft and the taste was addicting. I never wanted to stop because this was just…wow.

But I began to pull away because the lack of oxygen was making me dizzy. I opened my eyes and hers was still closed as our foreheads were pressed together. But she finally opened them and I saw the big, soft brown eyes that I've always loved.

I grinned. "Woah."

She grinned back, a smile so beautiful I was dizzy all over again. "Yeah. Woah."

"Sophie?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I kind of maybe like you, too," I said, copying her previous dorky line. But I knew for sure it was much more than a "kind of maybe" like. Maybe it was even—

"AWWWWWWWWWWW!"

I jumped and Foster let out a surprised shriek. I turned toward the voice I heard, instinctively moving in front of Foster. And I saw…

Biana.

"What are you doing here?!" I said, feeling my face get hot from embarrassment as I took a step away from Sophie.

Biana giggled, running up to us and hugging me. "Oh my God, that was the cutest thing I've ever seen!"

I grimaced and stiffly patted her back. Biana let go and hugged Foster.

"How? I didn't see you," Foster said.

"I'm a Vanisher, remember? Oh, and Fitz is here, too. Fitz!"

A familiar head popped out from under a bush. He grinned, standing up and coming over to us.

"Nice, dude," he said, slapping me on the back. "Cheesy, but nice."

I felt my blush spread. "Why are you guys out here?"

"Uh, why are _you_ guys out here?" Biana demanded. "Sophie, your parents are worried sick! They sent us to search for you guys while they searched the other streets."

"Yup, I'm definitely grounded," Foster sighed.

"Wait…why are your clothes wet?" Fitz frowned.

"Hush, Fitz," Biana shoved him out of the way and grabbed Foster. "It's about time! It only took you guys what, almost 3 months?"

"Have you been counting?" I frowned.

She giggled. "Maybe?"

"And Biana," Fitz said with a smirk. "You owe me 5 servings of custard bursts and mallowmelt."

"You guys made a bet?" Foster frowned.

"Never mind that," Biana said quickly. "Fitz, let's go hail Sophie's parents." She dragged him away, making sure to give us a wink.

I turned to Foster. "So…that just happened."

She smiled. "Yeah."

"Your dad's probably going to murder me, now."

She nodded. "Probably."

"Hey, that's only funny when I do it!"

She grinned, stepping closer. My stomach flipped as she leaned in for another kiss, and I felt the emotions stirring back up again and—

She licked me.

I grimaced and wiped the saliva off of my cheek as she grinned at me triumphantly. "Well played," I told her, doing my best to get the spit off of my hand.

"Aw, you wanted another kiss?"

I nodded excitedly.

"Well you have to catch me first!" she ran away laughing and I ran after her laughing as well—and, boy, did I catch her.

So maybe it did take us almost 3 months to get together, according to Biana. But to me, it felt like it was only a week ago when I first met Sophie. If someone told me then that Sophie and I would end up here, I would have laughed in their face. But here we are.

And it felt like _finally_.

* * *

 **A/N: What are good endings?**

 **Guys. This chapter was probably the hardest thing to write. You wanna know why? Because I never wrote anything like that before. It was the cheesiest, corniest thing I've ever written and I feel like it was just an overall crappy chapter. I don't like this chapter at all and it's probably the worst I've written yet…well, it's a tie with the 1** **st** **chapter. Seriously, I was literally cringing while writing this cheesy af chapter.**

 **Also, I'm soooooo sorry for not updating for like 2, 3 weeks? I wanted to—I reallllly did—but I had a hard time trying to get to use the laptop. I so hope I didn't disappoint y'all. Bc I never kissed anyone, or liked anyone like that ever in my life so I had no idea what it really feels like. I make myself feel bad as I wrote this story because I have no love life whatsoever. Fr.**

 **I didn't proofread this, so I apologize for all of the grammatical errors in this. Maybe I'll edit it some other day. Maybe.**

 **I reallllllllly hope y'all liked it and if you didn't, it's okay you can tell me in a review. I can take it.**

 **But there's one more chapter—which I'm super excited to write and I think the idea of it is good. You'll just have to stay tuned!**

 **Also there's over 60 reviews and 17 followers and favoriters? NO WAY! THANK YOU EVERYONE! LIKE, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY I AM! And 14 reviews on my last chapter? :O That's a record! TYSM!**

 **XO,**

 **Yana**


	13. Chapter 13: Story

A/N: And now, the finally…

* * *

GENERAL POV

The first time Sophie drew for Keefe was three weeks later, after their kiss. He told her he wanted something to make fun of for the day. Sophie only agreed so she can prove him wrong, so the two went to Candleshade so she could draw him. But him looking over her shoulder was too pressuring, so the only way she could start without him sneaking in looks was to draw behind him. So Keefe sat on the floor, reading, while Sophie sat behind him with her legs on both sides of his and used his back for a table. It was pretty comfortable and going good until Keefe decided to move and accidentally messed her up.

"Stop moving!"

" _Sorry,_ I was just trying to turn the page. Sheesh."

"You don't need to move your whole body just to turn a page!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"See? Look what you did, Keefe. You messed me up!"

Sophie sighed and continued on her drawing. Maybe drawing on Keefe's back wasn't a good idea after all. But it was the only way to keep him from looking.

"Are you done, yet?" Keefe asked, turning his head to the side to try and sneak a glance at her work.

"Not yet, so stop looking."

"It's been an hour!" he whined.

"Hold on.…There!" Sophie set down the pencil and studied her work with a frown. Wow, she was _really_ bad.

"Let me see," Keefe said impatiently.

"Okay, okay." Sophie sat on her knees so she could look over his shoulder and handed him the drawing.

As soon as he looked at it, Keefe burst into laughter. "What is that?"

"That's your nose."

"That's a nose?!" he laughed even harder.

Sophie couldn't help but grin. "Yeah, yeah," she said, resting her chin on his shoulder and putting an arm around his neck to get more comfortable. She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent. That never gets old. Keefe absentmindedly played with Sophie's hand that was hanging off his shoulder as he continued to make fun of her drawing.

"Wait…is that supposed to be my _hair?_ " Keefe said between laughs, pointing at what was supposed to be hair but looked like uneven, pointy spikes.

"Um…yes?" Sophie said weakly, cringing when he laughed right in her ear.

"Woah, Foster. I didn't think you were _this_ bad. But you're like the worst artist ever."

"Hey, you take that back!"

"Nope!"

Sophie did the only thing she could think of—she ran both of her hands through his hair. Keefe gasped.

"Did you just—"

"Mess up your hair?" She finished cheekily, whishing she could see his face. "Yes. Yes, I did."

"Oh, you're not getting away with that." So he leaned back, making Sophie get crushed underneath him.

"Keefe!" Sophie laughed, trying to get him off. "I can't breathe!"

"Then how are you laughing?"

Sophie struggled to get him off and Keefe decided he tortured her enough after a few minutes passed. He rolled off and sprawled out next to her. He turned his head to the side and watched her catch her breath as she looked at the ceiling.

"How do we always manage to end up on laying the floor?" Sophie said with a laugh, turning to Keefe.

He grinned back. "Because—that's what makes this more fun."

"Oh, so crushing me until I can't breath is—"

Keefe gently grabbed her head and silenced her soon-to-be rant with a kiss. It always amazed them both that it still felt the same way it felt the first time they kissed.

"What was that for?" Sophie asked breathlessly after they pulled away, her face flushed.

"To shut you up. Has anyone told you that you can be really annoying sometimes?"

Sophie rolled her brown eyes to the ceiling. "You always have to ruin nice moments, don't you?"

Keefe smirked. "I try. And, Foster?"

"Yeah?"

"Never draw again."

* * *

They didn't call each other their boyfriend or girlfriend until a month later.

It's not like they didn't want to, it was just that they never referred to each other like that before. And they didn't need to, because they knew what they were and didn't need a word to tell them that. Biana, however, had a different opinion.

"Wait," the brunette girl said while her and Sophie were at Everglen, feasting on mallowmelt. "Did you just say you and Keefe never had a conversation where you both decide if you're boyfriend and girlfriend or not?"

"Um…yeah, so?" Sophie said slowly, popping another cake into her mouth.

" _Sophie!_ You guys have been dating for almost two months!"

"Have we?" To Sophie, it felt like it was only yesterday when she and Keefe kissed. She smiled at the memory.

"Yes, you have! You and Keefe need to have a conversation right now to decide whether or not you guys are boyfriend and girlfriend."

"But what else would we be?"

"Sophie, trust me. I'm saving your relationship."

"Right…"

With a sigh, Sophie left the kitchen and went to the living room where Keefe and Fitz were playing video games.

"Keefe?" Sophie said, walking over to him.

"Yeah?"

"You're my boyfriend."

Keefe slowly grinned his crooked grin. "And you're my girlfriend. What else would we be?"

Sophie smiled, because that was the same thing she said. She kissed him on the cheek (leaving Keefe's face flushed and Fitz to make fun of him for it) and went back to the kitchen, grabbing more mallowmelt.

"Wait—that was it?" Biana frowned. "But…that wasn't a conversation, you just said three words to him!"

"When you have a relationship of your own, you'd understand."

"Very funny," Biana said, watching Sophie leave to bring her boyfriend some mallowmelt. Sophie threw it and Keefe caught it in his mouth, pumping both fists in the air while she cheered. Were all relationships like that?

"Nah," Biana said to herself. "That's just Keefe and Sophie."

* * *

The first time Sophie pranked Dame Alina by herself wasn't until a month later.

Keefe was accused of putting an effluxer in the Elvin History classroom by Dame Alina and was given a weeks worth of detention. Keefe told her it wasn't him—and it actually wasn't—but she didn't believe the boy who had been pranking her for years.

So when Sophie asked where he wanted to go that day after school, he told her he couldn't.

"Why not?" Sophie asked with a frown.

"Ask Dame Alina—she gave me detention for something that I didn't even do."

"She can't give you detention without any proof."

"Apparently she can. I'll see you later, Foster."

Keefe had to go home because he was grounded for getting yet another detention, so he and Sophie didn't hang out. The next day, Keefe was on his way to Sophie's locker because he was planning on scarring her but shouts and screams made him stop. He turned to see an angry looking Alina stomping over to him, carrying some kind of animal he had never seen before.

"Woah—what is that?" Keefe said. " _Oh!_ That _stinks!_ " Keefe backed away from the animal that smelled even worse than gulon gas.

"Don't play dumb, Mr. Sencen," Dame Alina snapped angrily. "You put this in my office!"

"Dude, I just got here—that wasn't me, I swear."

That made her even angrier. "Then who did?! It's going to take a week to get that _horrendous_ smell out of my office and my cape!"

"It wasn't me." Keefe held his nose as Dame Alina stomped passed him, yelling at all the prodigies in her way.

"Hey, Keefe," Sophie said, bouncing up to him with an ear-splitting grin on her face.

"Woah, Foster," Keefe said. "I know that was funny, but what's with all the happy and proud emotions?"

"Nothing, I'm just in a good mood."

"I know—doesn't Dame Alina's suffering always put you in a good mood? And did you see what she was holding? I never saw that animal before in my life."

"It's a fish."

"What's a—wait a minute, how do you know that?"

"Those animals are in the human world."

"If they're in the human world then why is it here?" Keefe's eyes widened in realization. "Was that _you?_ Did you go to the Forbidden Cities and bring that here?"

Sophie shrugged. "Hey—no body accuses you of anything but me."

Keefe grinned. "Wow. You actually pulled a prank by yourself."

"I know, right? The things I do for you."

Keefe wrapped an arm around his girlfriend. "You know what? I've never been more attracted to you."

Sophie rolled her eyes but laughed. "Yeah, well, don't get used to it."

And Sophie didn't pull another prank on Dame Alina again—well, by herself anyway. But she did sit outside the detention room to wait for Keefe. Not without transmitting to him (and making him laugh a few times, earning more time in detention for Keefe) and throwing crumbled up paper at Dame Alina along with Keefe when she wasn't looking, of course.

* * *

The first time they slept together (a/n: not that way lol) was five months later, or three months after Sophie turned 16.

Sophie wasn't expecting it. It was about 12 at night and she was sleeping soundly in her bed—until she heard rocks hitting her window. The first one scarred the living hell out of Sophie. Once she fully woke up, she realized someone—Keefe, no doubt—was throwing rocks at her window. She got out of bed and opened it.

"Were you sleeping?" Keefe said when she opened the window.

Sophie was going to tell him he was, but the way he looked made her change her mind. Even from all the way up there, she noticed he looked like he hadn't slept in a week. His hair was a mess and laid flat on his head, and he didn't even greet her with his usual smirk.

"No, I was just…thinking," Sophie finished lamely. "Come to the front door."

Sophie let Keefe inside and the two tiptoed upstairs into her room.

"What's up?" Sophie asked casually, looking away from his sad eyes.

He shrugged. "Nothing. I couldn't sleep."

"Right. So you decided to wake me up so I can suffer with you."

Keefe smiled. "Of course I did." He stopped smiling after that and played with his fingers.

Sophie found it cute whenever he was nervous, but she decided now wasn't the time to make fun of him. Something was wrong, but she knew he didn't want to talk and she respected that. So she laid on her bed and got under the covers. "Let's have a sleepover."

Keefe practically sighed with relief. "Sure. I'll sleep on the floor."

"Don't be crazy—my bed is big enough for the both of us."

"You sure?"

"Just get in the bed."

Keefe climbed in next to her—face flushed—and settled down at the very edge on the other side of the bed. Sophie smiled to herself. She always liked that he was a gentleman.

"Grady will murder me if he finds me in here, right?" he said after he got under the covers,

"Oh, yeah. He definitely will."

"Thanks for the words of comfort, Foster," he said with a roll of his eyes.

"My pleasure."

And for someone who had trouble sleeping before, Keefe fell asleep not even a few minutes later. Sophie listened to his slow, deep breaths while trying to calm her own hasty ones because _Keefe_ was sleeping _right_ next to her. She definitely get used to this.

* * *

Sophie opened her eyes slowly, recognizing the morning sunlight that streamed through her window. She was going to go back to sleep, because there was no school that day, but suddenly she was wide-awake. Because there was someone else in bed with her.

She was going to scream, but a voice stopped her.

"Relax, Foster. It's me, remember?"

And she did relax—for the most part. But her heart was thumping out of her chest because he had his arms around her like she was a pillow (which made her feel comfortably tiny). Her head was lying on his chest and was lifted up and down as he breathed in and out. Oh, yeah. She _definitely_ get used to waking up like that.

"Wait," Sophie said, lifting her head to look at him. "You were already awake?" She suddenly wondered how atrocious she looked at that moment.

"Yeah, I woke up like ten minutes ago." And his husky morning voice made Sophie shiver.

"Why didn't you wake me up, then?"

He grinned. "I dunno—you're really beautiful when you sleep."

Sophie's face turned red. "I don't know if I should be flattered or creeped out that you were watching me sleep."

"Uh, more like watching you _drool._ I think you soaked my shirt with it."

Sophie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, and your morning breath is making my eyes water."

Keefe laughed and leaned in to kiss her.

"Gross, no!" Sophie turned her head away and tried to dodge his kisses, laughing. They rolled onto the floor where Keefe finally pinned her down and kissed her. And Sophie pretended to hate it.

* * *

The first real argument they had as a couple wasn't until they were both 17.

Yes, they did argue and bicker more than once a day, but they never _really_ got into a fight. Until now.

"You were flirting with him."

" _What?_ No, I wasn't!"

"Yes you were! Do you think I'm a idiot?"

"Um, _yeah_ , because I don't know what the hell you're even talking about." Sophie stormed into the kitchen and Keefe followed her.

"I'm _talking_ about when that guy was flirting with you, and you were flirting right back in _front of my face!_ "

"I wasn't flirting, you dumbass!"

"Oh, so I'm a dumbass now. Well excuse me for not liking it when my girlfriend goes around and flirts with other guys."

"How can you even say that? You're basically calling me a whore!"

"Yeah, that's the word I was looking for."

Sophie bubbled up with anger. Her boyfriend just called her a whore. "Fine! If you think I'm such a whore then maybe I should just go and date him!"

"Maybe you should!"

"I will! Cause we're _over_."

The conversation ended with pots being thrown and doors being slammed.

They broke up.

They avoided each other like a plague, and whenever one saw the other they would immediately leave. Keefe was too stubborn to apologize, and Sophie sure wasn't going to go crawling back to him first.

They didn't speak for days.

It got to the point where Biana had to literally drag Sophie out of bed because she didn't want to get out.

"What's the point of waking up anymore?" Sophie would say. "He's gone."

"Sophie, please get up. Don't you want to watch me beat the crap out of Keefe?"

"Don't do that."

"Why not? He had no right to—"

"Don't touch him, okay?"

"Fine," a reluctant Biana muttered.

It also got to the point where Fitz had to practically shove food down Keefe's throat.

"What's the point of eating?" Keefe would say. "Food will only keep me alive."

"Dude, stop being dramatic. You haven't eaten anything for two days!"

"I don't deserve to eat."

"Okay then go apologize to Sophie so you can stop feeling guilty and then eat something."

But Fitz already knew that Keefe was too stubborn to.

It took a week for them to speak again. Sophie had enough. She missed the hell out of Keefe, and she was going to be the bigger person and go and speak to him. She went downstairs for the first time in a few days and threw open the door and bumped into no one other than Keefe.

"Oh!" She exclaimed in surprise. She studied Keefe, who looked like he hadn't slept for days and actually looked thinner.

"Uh…hi." Keefe nervously ran his fingers through his blond hair. "Okay. I'm not good at this so…" he held out a plate of mallowmelts. "How about some I'm-sorry-I-was-an-overactive-jealous-jerk-cakes?"

Sophie couldn't help but smile. "Mallowmelt, huh?"

"Yeah."

Sophie took a step forward.

And tripped.

And knocked down the plate of mallowmelt.

And it all spilled onto the floor.

"If you didn't want the mallowmelt, you could have just said so, Foster."

Sophie bent down and began picking up the cakes. "Sorry I didn't mean to do that!"

Keefe bent down with her and helped her pick them up. "I know." When they were finished, they stayed sitting on the floor. "Sophie, I'm really sorry and I shouldn't have said that, I really didn't mean it—"

Sophie silenced him with a kiss on the cheek. It was a gesture that made all of Keefe's guilt and regret wash away because he knew she forgave him.

"So…does that mean we're back together?" Keefe asked slowly.

"Yeah, sorry for saying that. I'm kind of new to this whole relationship thing."

"Me and you both." Keefe looked down at the plate of mallowmelt. "Well…we can't let all of that go to waste."

"It fell on the floor!"

"So?"

Sophie grimaced as Keefe began to eat the cakes. But she joined him a minute later.

* * *

She had never seen him cry until they were 18.

His mother died a week earlier. They attended the funeral and Sophie held his hand the entire time. Keefe didn't show any emotion, he just stared at the new tree that was planted. He went home with his father after that, but the next day Sophie saw him he pretended nothing was wrong and went on with his Keefe like self.

But one day Keefe was over Havenfield and was making dinner with Sophie. He insisted he could cook and wanted to help Sophie make dinner. She knew he wanted something to distract him from thinking about his mother, so she agreed.

" _Dammit!_ "

"What happened?" Sophie asked, turning around to see Keefe holding his finger.

"I sliced my stupid finger," he muttered, glaring at the half cut tomato on the counter.

"Are you okay?" Sophie asked slowly, noticing his voice trembled.

"I'm fine." But after he said those words, tears rolled down his cheeks. Sophie immediately hugged him. She knew this was bound to happen at some point—Keefe was holding everything in from the day his mother died. Now he was finally letting it out.

"This is stupid," Keefe said quietly after a few moments. "It's just a stupid cut."

"I know, baby." Sophie wiped the tears from his face. And it was ironic that now was the first time Sophie considered Keefe a man. She just noticed his face changed a lot. His jaw line got sharper, his voice was deeper, and he grew another five inches.

She stayed with him the rest of the night, not speaking unless he spoke. She knew he would only talk when he was ready. She only held his hand, telling him she was there for him without needing any words.

And that was enough for him.

* * *

They didn't say they loved each other until they were 20.

Well, Keefe kind of did. A few months ago he held up the letter "L" with his two fingers to Sophie. She asked him what that was, but he never told her because he didn't really know, either. But whenever Keefe's looking—really looking at Sophie—there's something there that's strong and the only thing he can bring himself to do is hold up the letter "L."

Until one day.

"Hey," Biana said, studying different gowns in her closet. "You never told me the story of how you and Keefe said I love you. I love hearing stories like that!"

Sophie frowned. "We never said it."

Biana dropped the gowns she held. " _What?_ But you guys dated for five years!"

"Has it really been that long?"

"But…don't you guys love each other? I see the way you guys look at each other."

"Of course I love him. I guess saying the actual words never came up."

"Never came up? Sophie, you have to tell him!"

"But I know he loves me and I love him, so that's good enough, isn't it?"

"I really don't get you two. I told Dex I loved him only a year after we began to date."

That got Sophie thinking—should she tell Keefe she loved him? Did he even know she loved him?

That night while they were watching a movie on the couch, Sophie still wondered. She was lying on his shoulder while his arm was around her and she watched him unconsciously play with her hair.

"Keefe?"

"Hmm?"

"You know that I love you, right?"

Keefe looked down with a grin. "I mean, you did clean up my throw up when I was sick before. If that isn't love, I don't know what is."

"Don't ever mention that again," Sophie said with a shudder.

"But," Keefe continued. "I'm not really sure how love is supposed to feel, but I'm pretty sure it's supposed to feel like this. So I love you, too."

Sophie's heart fluttered but she still smirked. "Wow, that was the sappiest thing I've ever heard."

"Oh, shut up!"

* * *

They got married when they were twenty-four years old.

Keefe had asked her on a normal, sunny day. He and Sophie were playing video games at Havenfield when she had the idea to see if Keefe was still ticklish. So she randomly started tickling him to sabotage him so she could win.

"Foster!" Keefe gasped, reflexively throwing the remote down and used his arms to try to shield him from Sophie's fingers. She laughed, climbing on top of him to tickle his chest and stomach.

"Stop! I can't breathe!" Keefe said between laughs.

"Then how are you laughing?" Sophie said cheekily, remembering that was what Keefe said to her years ago. But she figured it was enough torture and stopped tickling him. Sophie looked at the screen and laughed triumphantly.

" _Ha!_ After years of you beating me, I _finally_ won! How do you like it now, Keefe? You aren't the only gamer here, and I just beat your sorry butt….Okay, so maybe I cheated a little, but you cheat all the time, too, by—"

"Marry me."

Sophie fell silent and her brown eyes grew wide as she stared at Keefe. "What?"

Keefe was surprised by his sudden words, but he didn't regret them. He sat up and looked Sophie in the eyes intently. "Let's get married."

"But…but our matchmaker scrolls…" Sophie said quietly.

"Who cares what a scroll says?" Keefe grabbed her both of her hands. "Who cares if I wasn't in your top ten? You were in mine."

"Yeah, but that just means I'll be a bad match for you. You know since I have half alicorn DNA in me and I'm a moonlark that I'll be a bad match for anyone, really. You really want to marry a bad match?"

"Sophie. I don't care. I love you, and you love me so that's good enough for me. So what we'll be labeled a 'bad match'? I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I don't know, maybe it's too soon. I just…I really love you and I really want to marry you someday. But if you feel like it's too soon then we can wait, I just—"

"Keefe?" Huh. It felt weird to Sophie to be on the other side of this.

"Yeah?" He said slowly, looking a little scared.

"Shut up, you dork. Of course I'll marry you!"

Keefe grinned an ear splitting, ecstatic grin and kissed Sophie.

"We're getting married," Sophie said breathlessly when they pulled away. "That means I'm going to spend the rest of my life with you…oh my God, what was I thinking?"

"Ha-ha," Keefe grinned, kissing her forehead. "Nice one, Foster."

"What?" Sophie asked with concern when Keefe's face fell.

"That means…I can't call you Foster anymore!"

"Oh, no," Sophie rolled her eyes. "It's not like you already called me it for almost ten years already."

"You know this means I'll have to call you a new nickname, right?" Sophie caught the mischievous glint in his eyes and inwardly groaned. "How about…Sophs?"

"No!"

"Hmmm…Phie-Phie?"

"NO!"

"Phie-Phie it is!"

* * *

The first time Sophie got pregnant was when she was twenty-eight years old.

If she and Keefe were being honest, the thought of having a child scared them. It would change their lives forever. It wouldn't just be them two, but them two and a child. And if Sophie was being completely honest, she didn't really want to have a child. Not yet, anyway.

But a few months later, they both had nothing to worry about.

Sophie lay on the bathroom floor of her house in complete and utter disbelief. She stared at the blood around her in shock and the only thing she could do was let out a loud sob.

"Sophie! Are you okay?"

She just kept sobbing, clutching her knees for dear life. She didn't even notice the door open. Keefe walked in the bathroom and looked at the blood on the floor with a frown. And then he slowly realized what happened.

"I lost it," Sophie said between sobs. "We lost the baby."

Immediately, Keefe embraced his wife in a hug and held her as she cried. He felt tears fall down his face as he rocked them back and forth.

"I knew it," Sophie cried, trying to escape Keefe's embrace. "I knew we were a bad match because of me! No other elves lose their babies in the womb! There's something wrong with me, it's my fault."

"Stop it," Keefe said firmly, pulling away so he could look in Sophie's glassy brown eyes with his own glassy blue ones. "It's not your fault and you know it. You have to stop blaming yourself for everything, baby." He kissed her forehead before hugging her again. Sophie rested her head against Keefe's chest, listening to the heartbeat that had always calmed her down no matter what.

She regretted not wanting a child. Now all she could think of was having a mini spawn of her and Keefe running around the house as they chased it. She wanted a child, and so did Keefe.

So they tried again.

* * *

 **PRESENT DAY**

"…And that's how we fell in love. Wasn't that just an amazing story?"

"Is it over?!"

Keefe chuckles. "Yeah. It's over."

" _Finally!_ "

"Hey," Sophie says. "That's the best love story you will ever hear. Isn't that right, baby?"

"Damn straight," Keefe laughs, leaning in to kiss his wife.

"Ohh, make it stop! Please!" 15-year-old Leida begs while she shields her eyes.

"What? You mean you don't like to watch your mother and I make-out?" Keefe grins, wiggling his eyebrows at Sophie.

"Uh, _no!_ " 15-year-old Aldo grimaces, shielding his eyes as well.

"Yeah, don't you think our punishment is well over?" Leida whines. "You guys two told that story for hours!"

"Worst punishment ever, by the way," Aldo agrees. "You guys are cruel."

"Hey," Sophie says with a shrug. "That's what you two get for putting muskog gas in my perfume."

"It was Leida's idea!" Aldo accuses, glaring at his sister.

"So? You still went a long with it."

"This is your fault," Sophie says to her husband. "Leida got all of her trouble making genes from you!"

"What can I say?" Keefe smirks. "Like father, like daughter." Him and Leida share a high-five.

Sophie sighs, turning to Aldo. "At least you turned out with _responsible_ genes from me."

Aldo nods. "Yeah. I wish I could say the same for _Leida_."

"Hey!"

"Well Aldo got awesome hair from _me_ ," Keefe says, ruffling his son's blond hair.

"Um, we're both blond you know," Sophie says.

"Yeah, well, I want to take credit for _something_. They both have your eyes." Keefe points to their two, brown-eyed twins.

"Aren't they lucky."

"Too bad Leida didn't get awesome hair like me," Aldo smirks, resembling Keefe as he does.

"Hey, my hair is awesome, too!" Leida shoves her brother and touches her long, brown hair.

"Okay, okay," Keefe says to his children. "We all have nice hair. Now, how about we go and 'surprise' your mother?"

"Keefe…" Sophie says disapprovingly. "Was that your idea to put muskog in my perfume?"

"Of course not!" But Sophie still recognizes the mischievous glint in his eyes and she sighs.

"My whole life," she mutters to herself as her husband and kids sneak away to, no doubt, do more mischief.

After telling her and Keefe's story to her children, Sophie still can't believe all of that happened more than thirty years ago. It seems it was only yesterday when Keefe was shoved out of Everglen to be forced to go to the movies with her.

Sophie smiles to herself. And now here they are; married with two children—who were twins. This earned them a lot of teasing about being spawns of a "bad match" because having twins is a rare thing in the Elvin world.

But Sophie knew better. She and Keefe are anything _but_ a bad match. They're made for each other. Yes, they are complete, utter opposites. But their differences did not matter. What mattered was that they always were there for each other—through both the good times and the bad. They both changed each other for the better. Sophie helped Keefe mature, and he helped her become happier.

In the end, it didn't matter what some people thought of her and Keefe. She loves him, and he loves her.

And that is, always was, and always will be, good enough for the both of them.

* * *

 **EDITED 1/11/16:**

 **A/N: Okay, that did not come out to how I wanted at all. *sigh* If I disappointed you guys, I'm really sorry. And t** **his chapter is, once again, not proof read so sorry for the mistakes. But** **I REALLY hope you enjoyed the last and final chapter to this story. I'm wincing while uploading this…**

 **HOLLLYYY….WHAATTTT?! The last chapter had sooo many great reviews and people saying they loved it and it was their favorite chapter. And I am still in complete shock because I honestly thought that chapter was complete, utter, cheesy crap but THANK YOU SO MUCH!**

 **Okay, so I know I said I'll be posting an author's note and uploading it as another chapter and well...I'm lazy as hell and don't really think I should upload it as another chapter. So I'll say it here.**

 **Here's to the favoriters, the followers, the reviewers, and everyone else who read this story but doesn't have a fanfic account.**

 **THANK. YOU. For your support and kind words and inspiration and encouragement and everything. I wasn't planning on making this a multichap story, but because of you guys, I made more chapters and really enjoyed writing this. I'm really going to miss writing this, so maybe I'll do another Foster-Keefe story. I don't know. But I just wanted to thank you guys for everything. Because I sure as hell didn't expect 80+ reviews and all those followers and favs. But now this journey is over. And for the last and final words for this story,**

 **As always, TEAM FOSTER-KEEFE FOREVER!**

 **xo**

 **-Yana**


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